Technology: Robot Power Suit – Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) to Help Nurses and Patients

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA   “A robot suit that can help the elderly or disabled get around was given its global safety certificate in Japan on Wednesday, paving the way for its worldwide roll-out,” according to Discovery News. The Hybrid Assistive Limb®, or HAL, is a power-assisted pair of legs developed by Japanese robot maker, Yoshiyuki Sankai, CEO Cyberdyne Inc. The following text is an excerpt from the YouTube video below.    …

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Patient Engagement: The Pivotal Role of the Caregiver

This is a guest post by patient caregiver, Rob Harris, founder of Robcares.   He writes about how searching the Internet led to patient engagement and how it fostered a cohesive decision making process between health care providers, patient and caregiver.  Rob is a caregiver to his wife, Cindy, who is a two-time cancer survivor. “Patient engagement is more than patient satisfaction. It is patient involvement in every aspect…The patient engagement process consisted of my wife…

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Telehealth, Remote Monitoring and Mobile Health

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA Bill Crounse, MD, Senior Director, Worldwide Health, Worldwide Public Sector Microsoft Corporation shares his insights and describes four leading trends and technologies that will transform health and health care in 2012 and beyond. These leading technologies include:  cloud computing, health gaming, telehealth services and remote monitoring/mobile health. Telehealth, Remote Monitoring, Mobile Health I’d like to focus on telehealth and remote monitoring/mobile health since I feel telehealth is the nucleus…

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How to Question Doctors and Nurses — Without “Challenging” Them

By Barbara Ficarra I think there is a huge difference between challenging a doctor or nurse and simply questioning a doctor or nurse. In yesterday’s The Wall Street Journal, in an article titled “Finding a Way To Ask Doctors Tough Questions,” Laura Landro writes: “Despite efforts by advocacy groups and others to empower patients, challenging a doctor  or nurse on whether they are correctly doing their jobs remain downright intimidating. Signs and posters in hospitals…

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