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Measure It Super Simple (MISS) activity tracker: (re)design of a user-friendly interface and evaluation of experiences in daily life

UMMELS, Darcy
BRAUN, Susy
STEVENS, An
BEEKMAN, Emmylou
BEURSKENS, Anna
2020

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Purpose

The purposes of this study were, first, to (re)design the user-interface of the activity tracker known as the MOX with the help of input from elderly individuals living independently and, second, to assess the use of and experiences with the adapted Measure It Super Simple (MISS) activity tracker in daily life.

 

Methods

The double diamond method, which was used to (re)design the user-interface, consists of four phases: discover, define, develop, and deliver. As a departure point, this study used a list of general design requirements that facilitate the development of technology for the elderly. Usage and experiences were assessed through interviews after elderly individuals had used the activity tracker for 2 weeks.

 

Results

In co-creation with thirty-five elderly individuals (65 to 89-years-old) the design, feedback system, and application were further developed into a user-friendly interface: the Measure It Super Simple (MISS) activity. Twenty-eight elderly individuals (65 to 78-years-old) reported that they found the MISS activity easy to use, needed limited help when setting the tracker up, and required limited assistance when using it during their daily lives.

 

Conclusions

This study offers a generic structured methodology and a list of design requirements to adapt the interface of an existing activity tracker consistent with the skills and needs of the elderly. The MISS activity seemed to be successfully (re)designed, like the elderly who participated in this pilot study reported that anyone should be able to use it.

Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Programme for Results: independent verification, evidence, and learning

Monteath-van Dok, Adrienne
Lagaay, Mary
April 2020

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As part of the Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) Women’s Integrated Sexual Reproductive Health (WISH) programme, an evidence gap map (EGM) has been developed to map interventions on ‘what works’ to enable access to sexual reproductive health (SRH) services for persons with disabilities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). EGMs are a user-friendly presentation of the available, relevant evidence for a particular sector, which is systematically gathered and mapped onto a framework, visually highlighting the gaps or concentration of evidence. This EGM aims to support WISH programming by consolidating evidence and identifying tools/approaches which could be brought into the programme. In addition, it aims to identify where evidence is weak and how the WISH programme can contribute to evidence generation.

This report provides a written accompaniment to the Evidence Gap Map (EGM) to explain the methodology, findings on the availability of evidence, and key recommendations. When scoping for this EGM, it was recognised early on that some of the best practices and interventions on ‘what works’ to support persons with disabilities access SRH services in LMICs are not always empirically tested. Therefore, a decision was made to develop an EGM which includes both peer-reviewed and grey literature. This approach diverges from the norm, as EGMs typically only include peer-reviewed literature.

Development, reliability, and piloting of a wheelchair caster failure inspection tool (C-FIT)

MHATRE, Anand A
LACHELL, Stephanie
PEARLMAN, Jonathan L
2019

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Introduction: 

Wheelchair casters fail frequently in the field causing multiple user consequences and wheelchair breakdowns. To inform caster design improvement, there exists no validated tools that can collect caster failures. This need motivated the development of a user-reported, caster failure inspection tool (C-FIT).

 

Methods: 

To develop C-FIT, a multistep design and testing approach was used which included face validity testing, test-retest reliability testing and expert review. Reliability testing was conducted with two independent cohorts of wheelchair professionals who inspected caster failures physically and online through pictures. The tool was revised based on testing outcomes and expert feedback. For preliminary data collection and evaluating usability, C-FIT was piloted at wheelchair service centers in Scotland, Indonesia and Mexico.

 

Results: 

Caster failure items reported in the literature were screened to develop the initial list of C-FIT items. Face validity testing conducted through surveys with wheelchair experts (n = 6) provided 14 items for C-FIT inclusion. The test-retest reliability was found to be high for 10 items with physical failure inspections (n = 12). For each of these items, 75% or more participants had substantial to almost perfect agreement scores (κ = 0.6–1.0). Lower reliability scores were found with online failure inspections (n = 11). C-FIT received positive usability feedback from study participants and data collectors in the field. Pilot field data (n = 31) included comprehensive details about failures useful for manufacturers, designers and researchers to improve caster designs.

Conclusions: 

The C-FIT tool developed in this study has substantial reliability and can be used for documenting caster failures at wheelchair service centers.

Human Rights

www.macao-tz.org
December 2014

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Malezi AIDS Care Awareness Organization (MACAO) is a non-profit organization reaching out to neglected Indigenous people in Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region of Northern Tanzania.  Macao founded in 2003, Macao is a humanitarian organization that provides assistance to approximately 200,000 Indigenous Maasai community in Ngorongoro district for addressing needs of water and sanitation, food security, health Care Research, Education, Research environment, Maasai Traditional Research, Human Rights and sustainable economic development by strengthening their livelihoods.  In addition to responding to major relief situations, MACAO focuses on long-term community development through over 4 Area Development Project. We welcome the donors and volunteers to join us in this programs, we are wolking in ruro villages.

Primary education for disadvantaged children project

INORWEGIAN AGENCY FOR DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION (NORAD)
May 2009

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This report presents the evaluation findings of the Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children Project (PEDC), a multi-donor project, with support from World Bank, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Norway, containing a number of sub-projects set specific goals in areas ranging from improving the infrastructure in schools to inclusive education for disabled children and reaching street children and other high risk groups

Norad collected reviews

Perceptions and practice : an anthology of impact assessment experiences

SAYCE, Kay
NORRISH, Patricia
2006

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This book presents eleven case studies of impact assessment in information and communication projects such as CATIA, Reflect's ICT projects in India, Tearfund's Footsteps project, Bernard van Leer Foundation's Effectiveness Initiative and others. Each case study begins with a summary of the study, followed by first-hand accounts of the key people involved in each assessment. The central issues raised by the studies include learning and accountability, attribution, context, communication, donor issues, resources, and planning. The case studies are bracketted by sensitive and analytical introductory and concluding chapters, which synthesize the practitioners' voices from the case studies, contextualise them in wider debates in development impact assessment, evaluation and learning

Handhelds for health : SATELLIFE’S experiences in Africa and Asia

SATELLIFE
July 2005

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This report describes the SATELLIFE experience in implementing handheld computer projects to support health-care providers and institutions in a dozen countries in Asia and Africa. It captures SATELLIFE's experience and lessons learned as a 16-year veteran of using ICTs for health and an early adopter of handheld computers in low-resource environments. It also provide some pointers to other organisations that may benefit from their knowledge and experience, to optimize their own use of ICT in general or handhelds in particular

Estrategias nacionales para la Sociedad de la Información en América Latina y el Caribe

HILBERT, Martin
BUSTOS, Sebastián
FERRAZ, João Carlos
March 2005

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In order to take advantage of the benefits and opportunities offered by ICTs, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have established and implemented projects, policies and strategies to make an efficient transition towards the Information Society. The objective of this work is to review these efforts developed within the public agenda of 13 selected countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela

ICTs and MDGs : on the wrong track?

HEEKS, Richard
February 2005

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This article proposes a revision of the relevance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as the incidence of ICT use in the achievement of those goals, and argues that some different priorities should be considered to make most effective use of the opportunities that new technology affords. It examines the potential for ICTs in achieving the MDGs and provides a background for a later article on the possibilities for a multi-sectoral approach

Social development and the 'information revolution' : lessons from research in Senegal

POWELL, Michael
March 2004

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This paper brings together a series of research studies that explore the scope of ICT-driven social change in Senegal. The studies focus on government, media, and business, as well as the health and education sectors. Several other studies looked at a broad range of social settings and collected statistics on the public use of ICTs. The paper presents the main findings of the research, and draws out policy implications

Electronic immunisation registry and tracking system in Bangladesh

AHMED, M
2004

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This report summarises the 2001 development of a new computerised information system to register, schedule and track the immunisation of children, which was introduced by the Department of Public Health in Rajshahi City Corporation, Bangladesh. While no direct funding was provided for it, the assumed cost was not more than US $5000. The author concludes that system has been working well for the past three years. He also notes that the utilisation of ICTs in poor countries should be targeted at those intermediaries (such as health workers) who play a key role in the lives of the poor through high-contact service delivery. Empowering those workers and helping improve the effectiveness of their service delivery will do more for the poor than any number of e-government portals

Comunicación sin fronteras : un proyecto de universalización de las tecnologías de información y comunicación en Costa Rica

CAMACHO, Kemly
HIDALGO, Christian
April 2003

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The document analyses the 'Communication Without Borders' programme - a proposal developed in the Republic of Costa Rica in 2003 to incorporate new technologies into the life of the citizens. It examines the programme as it works in reality, showing the difference between the ideal model and the one executed. It makes recommendations around policy issues, institutional change and infrastructure development

Resource centre manual : how to set up and manage a resource centre

O'SULLIVAN, Sheila
et al
2003

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Contains practical information on all aspects of setting up and managing a resource centre, from planning, fundraising and finding a suitable location, to collecting and organising materials, developing information services, and monitoring and evaluating the work of the resource centre. It assumes that most readers will use manual systems for organising information, but also explains how computers can be used in resource centres, including e-mail, Internet and databases. It describes how to select database software, and contains a detailed review of three leading database programs. It includes a list of organisations and publications that can provide further information

Tygerberg Children's Hospital and Rotary Telemedicine Project

2003

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The Tygerberg Children's Hospital and Rotary Telemedicine Project in South Africa uses computers and email to link specialists from Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town to doctors in more remote community or district hospitals, in an effort to improve health care in rural areas. This article provides an exploration of the project's success

Evaluating computerised health information systems : hard lessons still to be learnt

LITTLEJOHNS, Peter
WYATT, Jeremy C
GARVICAN, Linda
2003

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This article discusses the implementation of a hospital information system in Limpopo Province, South Africa and describes how it failed because of inadequate infrastructure and problems with the functioning of the system itself. Furthermore, users were not made sufficiently aware of the purpose of a computerised system and failed to appreciate the complexity of implementation and of the healthcare process. The paper calls for a better understanding of the unique nature of hospital information systems and for well designed evaluation to be built into the contracts from the beginning

Strengthening the knowledge and information systems of the urban poor : policy paper

SCHILDERMAN, Theo
April 2002

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This brief policy paper summarises the findings of a research project that focused on the information needs of the urban poor, and the information sources they access. The study found that the main sources of information were social networks, key informants, and infomediaries. It ends with six suggestions for development agencies seeking to share their knowledge and information with the urban poor

Harnessing ICTs for community health : the AfriAfya initiative

NYAMAI, Caroline
April 2002

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A number of health NGOs in Kenya, interested individuals and the Ministry of Health came together for a workshop in April 2000 to explore how they might harness ICT for community health, recognising that individually none had adequate solutions. A consortium, later called AfriAfya, was established to explore means of turning good ideas into practical realities. The consortium consisted of seven of the large health NGOs in Kenya - Aga Khan Health Services, Kenya; African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF); CARE Kenya; Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK); SatelLife HealthNet Kenya; PLAN International; and World Vision International, Kenya - along with the Ministry of Health. This report explains the initiative and explores its results, lessons and impacts

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