Browsing by Author "Edirippulige, Sisira"
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- ItemAustralian nurses' perceptions of e-health.(2005-07-22) Edirippulige, Sisira
- ItemEffect of mobile phone-based psychotherapy in suicide prevention: a randomized controlled trial in Sri Lanka.(2012-04-16) Marasinghe, Rohana B; Edirippulige, Sisira; Kavanagh, David; Smith, Anthony; Jiffry, Mohamad T MWe conducted a randomized controlled trial to test whether a Brief Mobile Treatment BMT intervention could improve outcomes relative to usual care among suicide attempters The intervention included training in problem solving therapy meditation a brief intervention to increase social support as well as advice on alcohol and other drugs and mobile phone follow up The effect of the intervention was measured in terms of a reduction in suicidal ideation depression and self harm at Baseline six and 12 months A wait list control group received usual care A total of 68 participants was recruited from a Sri Lankan hospital following a suicide attempt Participants who received the intervention were found to achieve significant improvements in reducing suicidal ideation and depression than those receiving usual care The BMT group also experienced a significant improvement of social support when compared to the control group However the BMT group did not demonstrate a significant effect in reducing actual self harm and most substance use and differential effects on alcohol use were restricted to men Although the present study was limited in revealing which component of the intervention was more effective in preventing suicide it showed its efficacy in reducing suicide as a whole
- ItemThe effectiveness of telemedicine interventions to address maternal depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.(0000-00-00) Nair, Uthara; Armfield, Nigel R; Chatfield, Mark D; Edirippulige, SisiraIntroduction Maternal depression MD is an overarching term for depression affecting pregnant women and mothers for up to 12 months postpartum Because MD may have chronic and long lasting effects it is an important public health concern The extent to which telemedicine may be an effective way to provide services to sufferers of MD is unknown therefore this review aimed to assess the available evidence Methods We conducted a search of The Cochrane Library PubMed MEDLINE PsycINFO and EMBASE for relevant randomised controlled trials published between 2000 and 2018 we then conducted a systematic review and meta analysis Results We identified 10 studies for inclusion Therapeutic strategies involved cognitive behavioural therapy CBT behavioural activation and other psychoeducation Eight trials reported significant improvement in depression scores post intervention four studies that conducted post intervention follow up found that these improvements continued However high attrition rates and lack of blinding were common problems Discussion This review found limited evidence supporting the delivery of CBT for the treatment of MD and anxiety using telemedicine However most of the evidence only studied improvements in postpartum depression indicating that use of telemedicine to provide MD intervention is still small and an under researched area
- ItemEvaluating the use of mobile phone technology to enhance cardiovascular disease screening by community health workers.(2014-07-22) Surka, Sam; Edirippulige, Sisira; Steyn, Krisela; Gaziano, Thomas; Puoane, Thandi; Levitt, NaomiBACKGROUND Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease CVD by identifying individuals at risk is a well established but costly strategy when based on measurements that depend on laboratory analyses A non laboratory paper based CVD risk assessment chart tool has previously been developed to make screening more affordable in developing countries Task shifting to community health workers CHWs is being investigated to further scale CVD risk screening This study aimed to develop a mobile phone CVD risk assessment application and to evaluate its impact on CHW training and the duration of screening for CVD in the community by CHWs METHODS A feature phone application was developed using the open source online platform CommCare CHWs n 24 were trained to use both paper based and mobile phone CVD risk assessment tools They were randomly allocated to using one of the risk tools to screen 10 20 community members and then crossed over to screen the same number using the alternate risk tool The impact on CHW training time screening time and margin of error in calculating risk scores was recorded A focus group discussion evaluated experiences of CHWs using the two tools RESULTS The training time was 12 3h for the paper based chart tool and 3h for the mobile phone application 537 people were screened The mean screening time was 36 min SD 12 6 using the paper base chart tool and 21 min SD 8 71 using the mobile phone application p Under0 0001 Incorrect calculations 4 3 of average systolic BP measurements 10 4 of BMI and 3 8 of CVD risk score were found when using the paper based chart tool while all the mobile phone calculations were correct Qualitative findings from the focus group discussion corresponded with the findings of the pilot study CONCLUSION The reduction in CHW training time CVD risk screening time lack of errors in calculation of a CVD risk score and end user satisfaction when using a mobile phone application has implications in terms of adoption and sustainability of this primary prevention strategy to identify people with high CVD risk who can be referred for appropriate diagnoses and treatment
- ItemMedical students' knowledge and perceptions of e-health: results of a study in Sri Lanka.(2007-10-03) Edirippulige, Sisira; Marasinghe, Rohana B; Smith, Anthony C; Fujisawa, Yoshikazu; Herath, Walisundara B; Jiffry, M T M; Wootton, RichardThe present study investigates the knowledge perceptions and attitudes of medical students in Sri Lanka in regard to e health We also examined the barriers which impede them to develop knowledge and skills in e health within their medical curriculum A questionnaire focusing on the knowledge attitudes and expectations of medical students towards e health was distributed to all final year students n 136 at the Faculty of Medical Sciences Sri Jayewardenepura University Sri Lanka Response rate was 74 43 of respondents stated that they were familiar with the term e health 51 rated their knowledge of e health applications as minimal 88 admitted that they had no e health education or training of any kind Over 80 of all respondents thought that e health had an important role to play in the current and future health sector particularly in developing countries Our survey revealed that respondents had very poor access to computers and Internet use was rare 77 of respondents admitted that they were not provided with systematic knowledge and skills in e health through their medical curriculum and identified the absence of formal education in e health as a serious shortcoming
- ItemAn overview of the national telehealth initiative in Malaysia.(2010-12-30) Maon, Siti N; Edirippulige, SisiraMalaysia s national health statistics for the last half century show a remarkable improvement in the nation s health status One important factor for this improvement is the Malaysian government s proactive intervention in the health sector Among others e health has played a vital role in delivering and managing healthcare services in Malaysia While the Government has integrated telehealth in its national digital infrastructure re design it has heavily invested in telehealth The enactment of new laws to facilitate telehealth practices can also be noted as an important measure
- ItemA qualitative study of the use of Skype for psychotherapy consultations in the Ukraine.(2013-11-12) Edirippulige, Sisira; Levandovskaya, Marina; Prishutova, AnnaThere has been rather limited use of Skype for health and medical purposes We investigated the use of Skype for delivering psychotherapy services in the Ukraine A provider questionnaire was distributed to all delegates n 50 at the Annual Symposium of Psychotherapists One copy of a client questionnaire was also given to each service provider and they were instructed to request their next client to complete the survey In total 29 providers and 23 clients responded to the questionnaire The majority of clients 61 and providers 72 had used Skype for a range of services The services they provided were related to a wide range of paradigms including psycho analysis psycho drama Gestalt therapy cognitive behavioural therapy and existential therapy A key reason for using Skype was to allow practitioners to contact clients who were not easily accessible e g those who lived in other countries Most practitioners n 24 thought their clients considered the services received on Skype were good or excellent All 26 practitioners charged for Skype consultations The majority of clients and providers showed high satisfaction with the use of Skype for psychotherapy services
- ItemReadiness of nurses for practicing telehealth.(2010-12-30) Edirippulige, SisiraNurses represent the largest group of healthcare professionals and their role in healthcare is diverse The lack of nurses in the workforce and the increasing demand of care continues to challenge health systems across the globe Telehealth has been identified as a potential alternative method for delivering health services Evidence is emerging that the use of telehealth by nurses results in efficiency gains and cost effective health care delivery Regardless of growing evidence the use of telehealth in nursing practice is still very limited The lack of systematic education programs in telehealth and the lack of resilience in regards to organisational change remain significant barriers for the uptake of telehealth for nurses
- ItemTelemedicine in the correctional setting: A scoping review.(0000-00-00) Senanayake, Buddhika; Wickramasinghe, Sumudu I; Eriksson, Lars; Smith, Anthony C; Edirippulige, SisiraIntroduction The access healthcare services to inmates within correctional settings has generally been low and problematic due to specific nature of the prison setting Telemedicine has been used as an alternative delivery mode This study aimed to collate the current evidence related to the use of telemedicine to deliver health services within correctional settings Methods A comprehensive search of seven databases PubMed Embase CINAHL Informit Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials PsycINFO and Scopus for peer reviewed publications was conducted in April 2018 Results Initial search identified 1147 articles After review of the title and abstract 36 articles were included in the final review Of the included articles 19 53 were published during the period of 2010 2018 Articles were predominantly from the USA n 23 64 France and Australia There were 23 descriptive studies 64 five costing studies 14 five experimental studies 14 two mixed methods 6 and one qualitative study 3 The experimental studies were predominantly focused on mental health services n 4 80 The commonest telemedicine intervention used was synchronous videoconferencing n 21 58 while eight articles 22 described asynchronous interventions Telemedicine interventions were mainly used for mental health n 13 and ophthalmology n 4 disciplines Discussion In the right circumstances telemedicine interventions within correctional settings seem to be a useful method in connecting inmates with essential health services
- ItemTelemedicine--a bibliometric and content analysis of 17,932 publication records.(2014-08-27) Armfield, Nigel R; Edirippulige, Sisira; Caffery, Liam J; Bradford, Natalie K; Grey, Joanne W; Smith, Anthony CWe aimed to provide an up to date contemporary bibliometric view of the telemedicine and telehealth literature and a longitudinal analysis of changes in content themes
- ItemThe use of telemedicine for delivering healthcare to bariatric surgery patients: A literature review.(0000-00-00) Coldebella, Belinda; Armfield, Nigel R; Bambling, Matthew; Hansen, Julie; Edirippulige, SisiraIntroduction Bariatric weight loss surgery is one of the most effective treatments for severe obesity Research shows that the availability of healthcare services pre and post bariatric surgery improves behavioural change and weight loss outcomes The aim of this systematic review is to assess the evidence relating to the use of telemedicine for providing health services to bariatric surgery patients Methods A search was conducted using PubMed EMBASE CINAHL PsycNET and SCOPUS Original research relating to telemedicine for bariatric surgery patients published in peer reviewed journals were included Results Database search returned 258 references and a total of 10 studies were included in the review Six studies assessed use feasibility and acceptance of telemedicine by patients practitioners Studies also examined the use of telemedicine for weight loss changes in physical activity diet eating or other behavioural changes Two studies were randomised controlled trials one showed a significant difference in outcomes between intervention and control group Discussion This review suggests that telemedicine may be a potential method for providing healthcare services to bariatric surgery patients However the current evidence base does not allow for definitive conclusions