Presentation

Confirmed speakers

• Dr Argyroula Kalaitzaki, Hellenic Mediterranean University - GR

  

  Dr Argyroula Kalaitzaki

   

  Hellenic Mediterranean University
  Estavromenos, 71410, Heraklion, Crete - GR

  Email: akalaitzaki@hmu.gr
  Phone: (+)  6944630891
   

  Argyroula Kalaitzaki (BA, MSc, Ph.D., CPsychol), female, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, head of the Social Work Department, head of the Quality of Life Lab, and head of the MSc “Interdisciplinary Management of Chronic Diseases, Disability, and Ageing” at the Hellenic Mediterranean University, Greece. She has published many peer-reviewed papers and chapters in books, co-authored and co-edited books, and has had many national and international conference presentations. She has participated in and led many research projects and has over 20 years of educational experience. Her research interests include, among others, interpersonal relationships, social networks/capital, violence and aggression, aging, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease, and recently Positive Psychology.

  The “Empowered” project: Enhancing self-management of chronic diseases.

  Background. As the average life expectancy increases, new methods and tools need to be developed to help elderly people effectively manage their diseases and remain independent and active for longer.

  Aim. The aim of the “Empowered” project was to enhance disease self-management skills through IoT and technology tools by both caregivers (i.e., nurses) and elders suffering from heart failure, diabetes mellitus, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Specifically, it aimed at developing a smart, mobile, digital personal health management assistant (Healthier platform) with a monitoring system and effective communication mechanism and tools to transmit the necessary data to patients and nurses.  

  Methods. An analysis of nurses and patients’ self-management needs through technology was carried out. The findings guided the development of a platform, through which the caregiver monitors the patient's health progress in real-time by receiving targeted information. Two apps were also created, a smart, portable, personal health self-management assistant for the patients and a remote patient monitoring and data management assistant for the caregivers. The platform and the apps were tested in a pilot study on 53 patients and 8 nurses for 15 days (after receiving appropriate training) and were then finalized.

  Results. The majority of the nurses reported satisfaction with the platform (87.5%) and willingness to incorporate it into their daily practice (75%). They believed that similar platforms with IoT devices improve the quality of services provided to the patients (87.5%), decrease the time needed to devote to them (87.5%), and achieve better planning of the interventions (75%). The platform was reportedly easy to use (100%). Nurses believed that 75% of the patients were satisfied with the app and 87.5% of them improved compliance.

  Conclusions. The Healthier platform can be a useful tool in improving communication between the patient and the caregiver/nurse, increasing patient compliance, and enhancing self-management skills.

   

• Dr Khadija Gourrame, PRISME laboratory, University of Orléans - FR

  

  Dr Khadija Gourrame

   

  PRISME laboratory, University of Orléans - FR

  Address: 21 Rue de Loigny la Bataille

  28000 Chartres

  Email: khadija.gourrame@univ-orleans.fr

  Khadija GOURRAME is a research scientist, who is currently working as post-doctoral research associate at university of Orleans. Her ongoing research project is aimed at improving motor and cognitive functions in individuals with Parkinson's disease by utilizing a rehabilitation program based on virtual reality and action observation training. As a result, her research interests include: signal processing, bio-signal analysis, machine learning and biostatistics. She accomplished her joint doctoral degree in image processing from the University of IBN Zohr and the University of Orleans. During her doctoral studies, she developed a watermarking approach to enhance the security of smartphone freehandedly captured ID cards. Furthermore, her research interests extend to other domains such as image processing, image watermarking, and computer vision.

  Exploring Parkinson’s disease rehabilitations: VR-Action Observation training in focus

  Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurological disorder that affects motor and cognitive function. Although pharmacological and surgical treatments can help manage symptoms, non-pharmacological interventions such as rehabilitation have gained attention as a means to improve motor function and quality of life for PD patients.

  Virtual Reality (VR) based Action Observation Training (AOT) is an innovative rehabilitation approach that combines VR technology and the observation of movements to enhance motor learning and cognitive function. In this workshop, we provide a focused review of the literature on VR-AOT in PD rehabilitation. We discusses the rationale and potential benefits of VR-AOT, including its ability to improve gait, balance, and upper limb function, as well as cognitive domains such as attention and executive function. Additionally, qualitative and quantitative assessments, challenges and limitations of VR-AOT for PD are highlighted. As conclusion, the workshop emphasize the potential of VR-AOT as a promising and complementary therapy for PD rehabilitation, and highlight the need for continuing-research to establish its effectiveness and broader applicability.

   

• Prof. Julius Griskevicius, Vilnius Tech - LT

  

  Prof. Julius Griskevicius

   

  Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech)

  Address: Plytinės str. 25, LT-10105 Vilnius, Lithuania

  Email: julius.griskevicius@vilniustech.lt

  Phone: (+370)68737782

  Prof. dr. Julius Griškevičius received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech, Lithuania) in 2005. Currently he is a professor and head of the Department of Biomechanical Engineering, teaching Biomechanics, Control theory, and Information Systems in Medicine courses for undergraduate and graduate students of the Biomedical Engineering study program. His research interests include biomechanics, musculoskeletal system modeling and application of information technology in medicine. Dr. Griškevičius is a president of Lithuanian Society of Biomechanics and a member of European Society of Biomechanics. 

  Data-driven biomechanics: model-based systems for clinical decision support. Applications in diagnostics, rehabilitation and teaching

  This workshop focusses on the application of data-driven biomechanics to develop model-based systems that support clinical decision making in the fields of diagnostics, rehabilitation, and teaching. Biomechanics is the study of the mechanical properties of biological systems, such as the human body, and their interactions with the environment. The use of data-driven approaches in biomechanics allows the creation of accurate and personalized models that can help with diagnosis, treatment planning, and rehabilitation.
  In this workshop, participants will learn about the latest developments in data-driven biomechanics and their applications in clinical decision support. This will include topics such as motion capture, musculoskeletal modelling, finite element analysis, and machine learning. Case studies will be presented to demonstrate the practical use of these techniques in various clinical settings.

  The workshop will also cover the use of data-driven biomechanics in teaching and education. Participants will learn about the development of interactive educational tools that use biomechanical modelling to improve learning and understanding of human movement.
  In general, this workshop aims to provide participants with a comprehensive overview of data-driven biomechanics and its applications in clinical decision support and teaching. At the end of the workshop, participants will have gained knowledge and skills that can be applied in their own research or clinical practise.
   

• Dr Marina Makri, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki & Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders- GR

  

  Dr Marina Makri

   

  Aristotle University of Thessaloniki & Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders- GR

  Address: Petrou Sindika 13, Thessaloniki, Greece

  Email: makrimarina@yahoo.gr

  Phone: (+) 306949431758

  Marina Makri has a BSc and MSc in Biological Science from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and a MA in Counseling Psychology and Psychotherapy. She is a PhD candidate in School of Medicine, AUTh in the field of Genetic Counseling. She works at the Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders as a coordinator and responsible for all the Erasmus+ European projects, since 2015 and she has also worked at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens. She is an external collaborator of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) of School of Medicine-Washington University, USA. She is a senior researcher on issues of genetic counseling, neurodegenerative disorders and family caregivers. She has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed articles in international journals and book chapters. She has taken part in various National, European and International Conferences and Meetings.

  Mobile Game for Cognitive Skills Development and Concept Teaching for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (Mild and Moderate Intellectual Disability, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome)

  Background: Serious games (SG) have been developed for the improvement of the attention, learning skills, problem-solving, decision-making, daily life activities and working memory of people with Intellectual Disability (ID), but there is a gap in other cognitive skills such as visual recognition of colors, calculation, logic, attention to details, dexterity, multitasking, memory, and accuracy.  Based on the literature, there is a big need to be created new games for cognitive skills development and for health professionals to be able to use them as interventional tools.

  Objective: The study aims to improve the main cognitive functions of the participants through the “Games4CoSkills” intervention, and to develop a standard intervention for people with ID based on a new SG, to improve their quality of life and to create a game based on the mobile phone thus, adults with ID can interact with it even at their homes. 

  Methods: The study will be conducted in 3 stages: evaluation of the cognitive skills of adults with ID by their health professionals; observational study to detect the level of cognitive skills of adults with ID and after 6 months will be created the SG and will be conducted the stage of the quasi-experimental study, intervention. Participants will assign to the intervention group (N = 120) and will play the SG for 4 months.

  Results: The results of the ongoing controlled trial will determine whether a mobile SG, can be recommended for system usage and the improvement of the cognitive skills of adults with ID as a tool of intervention and as a SG with entertaining and educational character at home.

  Conclusions: The results of this study will contribute to knowledge on improving several cognitive functions through a SG based on individuals with ID needs and creating a new SG as an interventional tool in a safe and effective way of intervention.

  Keywords: Mobile game, cognitive skills, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Intellectual Disability

   

• Dr Juliana Moreira, Polytechnic Institute of Porto - PT

  

  Dr Juliana Moreira

   

  Polytechnic Institute of Porto - PT

  Address: Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 400 4200 - 072, Porto, Portugal

  Email: jmo@ess.ipp.pt
  Phone: (+)351 222 061 000
   

  Juliana Moreira is graduated in Physiotherapy by ESS Polytechnic of Porto (2011), obtained her M.S.c. in Palliative Care in 2017 at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. Currently, she is attending her Ph.D in Physiotherapy at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Porto under the thesis theme “Study and analysis of Biomechanical Parameters of Human Movement based on disability Indicators in Older Adults”. Additionally, Juliana Moreira is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy at ESS Polytechnic of Porto and collaborates with the Center for Rehabilitation Research in the Human Movement System (Re)habilitation Area, mainly in the biomechanical analysis area.

  Biomechanical determinants for disability in older adults - the potential of biomechanical assessment in the early detection of disease markers.

  Age-related movement alterations, such as decreased gait speed, have been linked to the onset of illnesses or fall risk prediction. The movement analysis has been based on isolated tasks, mainly gait, and a discrete approach that does not translate the complexity of the interactions between individuals or their characteristics. A multivariate analysis, conversely, will provide knowledge of changes in the movement pattern of older persons by using complete biomechanical data from diverse functional tasks as well as other health and disability indices. As a result, the Center for Rehabilitation Research is developing a project to identify biomechanical determinants from different functional tasks in older adults through a comparative analysis between groups with a different set of indicators. 

  One of the tasks under study is the stair descent, as it is related to a higher incidence of falls and carries a higher risk of mortality and serious injuries. There’s few research available on stair descent in older adults, lacking studies that correlate temporal-spatial parameters with lower limb kinematics and centre of mass velocity, and no research available that analyses the influence of the history of falls on these parameters. The aim of this study was to evaluate biomechanical parameters, such as hip, knee, and ankle angles and powers, center of mass velocity, temporal-spatial parameters, and foot clearance and placement on stair descent in older adults who fall and do not fall.

• Prof. Andreia Sousa, Polytechnic Institute of Porto - PT

  

  Prof. Andreia Sousa

   

  ESS Polytechnic of Porto, Center for Rehabilitation Research

  Address: Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 400 4200 - 072, Porto, Portugal

  Email: asp@ess.ipp.pt, andreia.asps@gmail.com

  Phone: (+)351 222 061 000

  Andreia S. P. Sousa is graduated in Physiotherapy by ESS-P.Porto (2006) and obtained her M.Sc. (2009) and her Ph.D. (2013) in Biomedical Engineering in the field of Biomechanical Analysis of Movement and Postural Control Areas by the University of Porto. Currently, she is a Full Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy of ESS-P.Porto and is also a member of the directive board of the Center for Rehabilitation Research (CIR) as coordinator of the Human Movement System (Re) habilitation Area. Andreia participated in 9 financed research projects contributing to the development and/or validation of technological solutions for rehabilitation and health promotion and to the validation of the effects of different kinds of footwear on health and injury prevention. Her main research areas include Motor Control assessment, addressed especially in the domain of Rehabilitation. Andreia has published 92 papers in national and international journals, book chapters and conferences. She has been a committee member of several international journals and has been (co-)supervisor of 98 graduation, 37 MSc and 2 PhD thesis and is now (co-) supervising 6 PhD projects.

  Research challenges in rehabilitation sciences: searching for a common language between rehabilitation, biomechanics and neuroscience

  In the last decades, research in the area of the study of motor control has made significant progress responding to the demands in the area of health with the availability of accurate and valid methods for the capture and analysis of movement. The biomechanical analysis of movement and postural control are effective tools for the diagnosis, therapy and prevention of neurological and neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction.

  Currently, biomechanical instrumentation allows to measure the position of the joints in space and, if conjugated with force platforms, the joint forces, and if integrated with electromyography systems, the muscular activity.  This type of systems includes, from gold standard optoelectronic systems to markerless systems and inertial measurement units, the latter with greater potential for application in clinical practice. The biomechanical data from these systems have the potential to: 1) assist the health professional in the decision-making process; 2) allow the creation of a knowledge base that can be used to establish a link between dysfunction, the underlying mechanisms and the intervention towards the personalization of health care, and 3) identify determining factors that can influence the progression of dysfunction and the rehabilitation process.

  One of the research lines from the Center for Rehabilitation research aims to identify determinant biomechanical variables for characterization of dysfunction, prediction of disability and monitoring of the results of interventions in Rehabilitation. This presentation aims to present our contributions regarding this field.

• Prof. Paulo Veloso Gomes, Polytechnic Institute of Porto - PT

  

  Prof. Paulo Veloso Gomes

   

  LabRP, CIR, School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal

  Address: Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 400 4200 - 072, Porto, Portugal

  Email: pvg@ess.ipp.pt

  Phone: (+)351 222 061 000

  Paulo Veloso Gomes is MSc in Information Management and has an Advanced Studies Diploma in Social and Medical Sciences and Scientific Documentation. Researcher in Psychosocial Rehabilitation Laboratory affiliated with the School of Health of the Polytechnic of Porto and the Faculty of Psychology and Education Science of the University of Porto. Experienced Professor in the School of Health of the Polytechnic of Porto, with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Strong education professional skilled in Computer Science, Health Communication, Health Literacy, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Web Creation Contents, Knowledge Management, Information Management, Information Systems and Digital Media Art.

   The use of Biofeedback Virtual Reality Environments in Mental Health Therapies - Self-regulation Behaviours and Empathy Construction

  The quality of life of a person with mental illness can be compromised by the difficulty in carrying out their daily tasks and by the social stigma of their condition.

  Virtual Reality immersive environments creates sensations that generate involuntary emotions, these emotions result from an involuntary interpretation process and translate what the participant feels during exposer. These environments, in which the participant can be placed himself in another's position and feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, can be used to induce emotional changes that allows him to incorporate sensations and feelings that generate empathy, understanding and solidarity.

  Interaction in virtual reality environments may not be just limited to the participant's conscious actions. The use of biofeedback mechanisms to measure the user’s emotions and reaction to stimuli during exposure can be used as an element of real time interaction between the participant and the system, based on participants involuntary reaction.

  Neurofeedback allows the user of virtual reality systems to change the environment with his thought. By measuring the participant's brain waves is it possible to create a an adaptative virtual world that reacts to the user emotions to influence different states of mind. This innovative capability of virtual reality systems can be applied in environments for self-regulation training.

• Prof. Perla Werner, University of Haifa - IL

  

  Prof. Perla Werner

   

  University of Haifa

  Address: Mt. Carmel. Haifa, Israel

  Email: pwerner@univ.haifa.ac.il

  Phone: (972) 543933066

  Professor (Emerita) Perla Werner received her Ph.D. (with distinction) from the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. She has been involved in gerontological research since 1978 and has contributed to the expansion of knowledge in the area of psycho-social aspects of Alzheimer's disease and other dementing disorders. Prof. Werner has published over 300 papers in peer-review journals and has received numerous grants from prestigious sources such as the National Institute of Aging, the Israeli Science Foundation, Alzheimer's Association and German-Israeli Science Foundation.

  Prof. Werner served as the Head of the Department of Gerontology, as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, and as the Vice Rector of the University of Haifa.

  Is dementia worry always bad?

  Dementia is a general term for symptoms of a progressive decline in cognitive functions such as memory, thinking, or decision-making that interfere with the performance of daily activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. The exponential increase in the number of people living with dementia worldwide, without having found an effective cure, has caused a sense of threat or concern among the general population to developing Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. Called "dementia worry", this phenomenon is attracting increased attention, especially in regards to its negative consequences. The goal of this presentation is to examine dementia worry, its correlates and consequences.

  We conducted an internet survey with a sample of 221 Jewish Israeli adults (53% female; mean age = 47; range 26 - 84). Dementia worry (assessed with the 12-item Modified Dementia Worry Scale) was moderate. Statistically significant and positive associations were found with stigma (r = .22, p < .01), and general anxiety (r = .48, p < .001), but also with preparedness for future care (r = .31, p < .001). Results will be discussed together with strategies for reducing the negative and increasing the positive consequences of dementia worry.

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