Browsing by Author "Theodoros, Deborah"
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- ItemAssessment of motor speech disorders online: a pilot study.(2004-01-19) Theodoros, Deborah; Russell, Trevor G; Hill, Anne; Cahill, Louise; Clark, KathyWe have conducted a preliminary validation of an Internet based telehealth application for assessing motor speech disorders in adults with acquired neurological impairment The videoconferencing module used NetMeeting software to provide realtime videoconferencing through a 128 kbit s Internet link as well as the transfer of store and forward video and audio data from the participant to the clinician Ten participants with dysarthria following acquired brain injury were included in the study An assessment of the overall severity of the speech disturbance was made for each participant face to face FTF and in the online environment in addition a 23 item version of the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment FDA which measures motor speech function and the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech ASSIDS which gives the percentage word and sentence intelligibility words per minute and a rating of communication efficiency were administered in both environments There was a 90 level of agreement between the two assessment environments for the rating of overall severity of dysarthria A 70 100 level of agreement was achieved for 17 74 of the 23 FDA variables On the ASSIDS there was a significant difference between the FTF and online assessments only for percentage word intelligibility These findings suggest that Internet based assessment has potential as a reliable method for assessing motor speech disorders
- ItemInvestigating the cost-effectiveness of videotelephone based support for newly diagnosed paediatric oncology patients and their families: design of a randomised controlled trial.(2007-03-15) Bensink, Mark; Wootton, Richard; Irving, Helen; Hallahan, Andrew; Theodoros, Deborah; Russell, Trevor; Scuffham, Paul; Barnett, Adrian GProviding ongoing family centred support is an integral part of childhood cancer care For families living in regional and remote areas opportunities to receive specialist support are limited by the availability of health care professionals and accessibility which is often reduced due to distance time cost and transport The primary aim of this work is to investigate the cost effectiveness of videotelephony to support regional and remote families returning home for the first time with a child newly diagnosed with cancer
- ItemMeasuring the lifespace of people with Parkinson's disease using smartphones: proof of principle.(2014-08-07) Liddle, Jacki; Ireland, David; McBride, Simon J; Brauer, Sandra G; Hall, Leanne M; Ding, Hang; Karunanithi, Mohan; Hodges, Paul W; Theodoros, Deborah; Silburn, Peter A; Chenery, Helen JBACKGROUND Lifespace is a multidimensional construct that describes the geographic area in which a person lives and conducts their activities and reflects mobility health and well being Traditionally it has been measured by asking older people to self report the length and frequency of trips taken and assistance required Global Positioning System GPS sensors on smartphones have been used to measure Lifespace of older people but not with people with Parkinson s disease PD OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate whether GPS data collected via smartphones could be used to indicate the Lifespace of people with PD METHODS The dataset was supplied via the Michael J Fox Foundation Data Challenge and included 9 people with PD and 7 approximately matched controls Participants carried smartphones with GPS sensors over two months Data analysis compared the PD group and the control group The impact of symptom severity on Lifespace was also investigated RESULTS Visualization methods for comparing Lifespace were developed including scatterplots and heatmaps Lifespace metrics for comparison included average daily distance percentage of time spent at home and number of trips into the community There were no significant differences between the PD and the control groups on Lifespace metrics Visual representations of Lifespace were organized based on the self reported severity of symptoms suggesting a trend of decreasing Lifespace with increasing PD symptoms CONCLUSIONS Lifespace measured by GPS enabled smartphones may be a useful concept to measure the progression of PD and the impact of various therapies and rehabilitation programs Directions for future use of GPS based Lifespace are provided
- ItemResearch into telehealth applications in speech-language pathology.(2002-09-09) Hill, Anne; Theodoros, DeborahA literature review was conducted to investigate the extent to which telehealth has been researched within the domain of speech language pathology and the outcomes of this research A total of 13 studies were identified Three early studies demonstrated that telehealth was feasible although there was no discussion of the cost effectiveness of this process in terms of patient outcomes The majority of the subsequent studies indicated positive or encouraging outcomes resulting from telehealth However there were a number of shortcomings in the research including a lack of cost benefit information failure to evaluate the technology itself an absence of studies of the educational and informational aspects of telehealth in relation to speech language pathology and the use of telehealth in a limited range of communication disorders Future research into the application of telehealth to speech language pathology services must adopt a scientific approach and have a well defined development and evaluation framework that addresses the effectiveness of the technique patient outcomes and satisfaction and the cost benefit relationship
- ItemTelerehabilitation: current perspectives.(2008-04-23) Theodoros, Deborah; Russell, TrevorTelerehabilitation in which rehabilitation services are provided at a distance using communication technologies is a new and developing field of telehealth Primarily developed to provide equitable access to individuals who are geographically remote and to those who are physically and economically disadvantaged telerehabilitation also has the capacity to improve the quality of rehabilitation health care Online delivery of rehabilitation enables the rehabilitation therapist to optimize the timing intensity and duration of therapy that is often not possible within the constraints of face to face treatment protocols in current health systems This chapter outlines the advances made to date in telerehabilitation applications in the fields of physiotherapy speech language pathology occupational therapy and biomedical engineering and provides evidence for the success of these applications Applications to date encompass systems ranging from low bandwidth low cost videophones to highly expensive fully immersive virtual reality systems with haptic interfaces A number of barriers to the establishment and advancement of telerehabilitation within health care systems have been outlined and include professional issues relating to the inherent hands on approach of some treatments licensure laws professional skill development patient disability reimbursement and the paucity of online assessment and treatment tools and outcomes data In response possible solutions to these barriers such as the development and validation of alternative assessment and treatment procedures involvement in the international policy debate as well as the resolution of national professional policies which hinder the wider uptake of telerehabilitation technologies have been outlined The future of telerehabilitation is promising as a new yet complex form of telehealth with the capacity to provide a wide range of services specifically designed to suit the needs of the individual
- ItemTreating disordered speech and voice in Parkinson's disease online: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.(2011-02-01) Constantinescu, Gabriella; Theodoros, Deborah; Russell, Trevor; Ward, Elizabeth; Wilson, Stephen; Wootton, RichardTelerehabilitation may be a feasible solution to the current problems faced by people with Parkinson s disease in accessing speech pathology services