Annette Brons – DigitalLife.nl

2Do2Digital

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 15:42:00 +0000

The most important advice to overweight 55+ people with type 2 diabetes is to lose weight. To support them in this, the lectorate of Nutrition and Exercise of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences – Faculty of Movement, Sport and Nutrition – developed the lifestyle program 2Do. This program focuses on losing weight with muscle maintenance through strength training and a healthy diet with protein-rich foods. The RIVM recognized 2Do as a lifestyle intervention in 2022. In the follow-up project 2Do2Digital, researchers are digitizing the lifestyle intervention so that upon completion, participants can carry out a customized follow-up program independently or with minimal supervision.

Robert Memelink, one of the project leaders: ‘I imagine that participants will decide with their healthcare provider what they want to focus on after the lifestyle program has ended. How to achieve and maintain their goals. In this way we stimulate the health and independence of the elderly in the long term.’

Lifestyle intervention

Based on the PROBE research the Nutrition and Exercise research group developed the multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention 2Do. Target group: Overweight or obese people aged 55+ and type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. Dietitians offer the 2Do lifestyle intervention in close collaboration with physiotherapists or personal trainers. During the intervention, clients work intensively for 13 weeks to improve their blood sugar levels through the loss of fat mass and the maintenance and use of muscle mass. This is done through individual and group meetings and strength training. After completing the intervention, the dietician can offer the client a tailor-made follow-up programme. Support in this follow-up phase may reduce the risk of relapse. By digitizing 2Do, clients become familiar with the digital lifestyle intervention during the program. This increases the chance of maintaining the changed lifestyle.

Goal

Developing a digital version of the existing lifestyle intervention 2Do. With a digital version, dietitians can also support participants in the intervention after the program has ended in losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight while retaining muscle mass.

Method

Based on literature, knowledge from other projects and experiences of healthcare professionals who already use 2Do, the project team maps out which requirements the digital version must meet. Researchers then design the digital version and build it together with partner Chippr on the basis of the existing digital platform of the HvA research group People in Movement (MiB).

Expected results

A digital version of the existing lifestyle intervention 2Do. This version is in line with the existing MiB platform, on which, for example, the intervention for the ‘SO-NUTS project’ is based. Researchers at 2Do2Digital are developing a protein module on the MiB platform that allows participants to track and evaluate their protein intake.

What is the expected social impact?

The digital version of 2Do gives dieticians extra options to guide their clients through lifestyle changes. The digital version is especially helpful when guiding clients during the maintenance phase. Dieticians can schedule sufficient contact moments in this phase while reducing the contact time. The client can continue more and more independently.

How does the project contribute to education and research?

The project team involves students graduating from the Nutrition and Dietetics study program in the literature study. At a later stage, students from the Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) program may also participate in the design of parts of the digital tool. In addition, the project team is collaborating with the App n protein research, in which protein intake also plays an important role.

Project duration

1 Feb 2023 -31 Dec 2023

Project manager

Annette Brons

Robert Memelink, Faculteit BSV, HvA

Researchers

Vincent Vijn

Robert Memelink

Funding

Urban Vitality Stimuleringsgeld

Partners

Chippr

BEST – Beyond the Evaluation Standards of Today

admin — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 13:12:00 +0000

Many applied eHealth interventions are currently being developed within applied research. In order to bring these interventions into practice, an evaluation of applicability and effectiveness is important. Within healthcare, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are often used for this, but this often does not fit well with interventions in which eHealth plays a major role. For example, RCTs do not offer the option of directly adapting the developed intervention to the latest technological possibilities. In addition, participants’ experiences cannot be directly converted into an improved intervention for later participants. Finally, an RCT demands a lot from participants, which has a major impact because they often come from a vulnerable target group.

Although practice shows that RCTs do not fit well with the way in which eHealth interventions are developed, there is currently no clear alternative. Various evaluation methods are being developed to investigate the effects of eHealth interventions, but little is known about which evaluation methods are suitable for which form of research into the effectiveness of eHealth interventions. This hinders the implementation of the developed interventions in practice, while this transfer is one of the important parts of applied research.

In project BEST we will gather knowledge about suitable evaluation methods for eHealth interventions. This includes evaluating the usefulness and applicability of interventions in practice as well as the effects of the intervention. In this project, we initially focus on eHealth projects from the SPRONG Urban Vitality program. Based on the knowledge gathered, we are developing a guideline that provides insight into which evaluation method is suitable in which situation for conducting research into the effects of eHealth interventions.

Project duration

1 Jan 2020 -1 Oct 2020

Researchers

Annette Brons
dr Bart Visser

Funding

Urban Vitality Zaaigeld 2020

Simba

admin — Mon, 01 May 2017 15:02:00 +0000

THE FOXFIT APP HELPS CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA TO MOVE WITH PLEASURE

What is the purpose of our research?
The aim of the Simba research is to make children with asthma move with pleasure and confidence. If you enjoy doing something, you will quickly do that more often. That is why we have created the Foxfit app together with children with asthma, which they use to learn how to exercise more in a fun way.

Why is our research important?
Many children with asthma move too little, for example because they are afraid of stuffiness, while moving is very important for them. It can reduce asthma symptoms, so that they can better participate with their peers, for example on the playground and with children’s parties.

There are already many ways to help children exercise more, but these are often not aimed at children with asthma or, on the contrary, are very much aimed at ‘being sick’. Children often do not use it because it does not match what they need or because they do not like it.

In order to create something that is fun and really useful, we in the Simba study work together with children with asthma. We asked these children what they think helps themselves to move more if you have asthma. We also asked this question to their parents and caregivers.

What does the research yield?
We have built the Foxfit app based on all the answers. Several children with asthma and caregivers have tested the first version of the app. With their advice, we have made our exercise app even more convenient, fun and beautiful.

In the app, a fox travels with his rocket to different planets. The children wear a movement meter that keeps track of how much and how fast they move. For movement they get points with which the fox can reach the planet with his rocket. The children also get ideas for fun activities and they get playful tips about asthma, exercise and medicine.

A caregiver, such as a nurse or physical therapist, guides the children while using the app. On a secure Foxfit website, the caregiver can see how much the children have moved and how they felt. In this way the caregivers can easily see whether the children are less moved by asthma complaints. Together with the child, caregivers also set personal goals and hand out trophies to reward the child. The child sees these trophies in the prize cabinet of the app.

How is the research conducted?
Fifteen children and their caregivers tested Foxfit for seven weeks. The children are very enthusiastic. They like using the app to use and move with pleasure. The health care providers also see many benefits of Foxfit. We have now mainly tested the user-friendliness of the app so that Foxfit can be used in practice. The first results of our research are positive. We hope that many children with asthma will take a space trip with Foxfit and learn in this way that exercise can also be fun with asthma.

Image & Video

Publications

Promoting factors for physical activity in children with asthma explored through concept mapping

(2019 )Annette Brons, Katja Braam, Annieck Timmerman, Aline Broekema, Bart Visser, Bart van Ewijk, Suzanne Terheggen – Lagro, Niels Rutjes, Hellen van Leersum, Raoul Engelbert, Ben Krose, Mai Chinapaw & Teatske AltenburgInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16(22) download

Beweegtool Foxfit voor kinderen met astma

(2019 )Annette Brons, Katja Braam, Aline Broekema, Annieck, Ricken – Timmerman, Bart Visser, Karel Millenaar, Raoul Engelbert & Ben KröseInspiratie 29(1) download

Effectiveness of serious games to increase physical activity in children with a chronic disease: Systematic review with meta-analysis

(2020 )Daniël Bossen, Aline Broekema, Bart Visser, Annette Brons, Annieck Timmerman, Faridi van Etten – Jamaludin, Katja Braam & Raoul EngelbertJMIR 22(4) download

Project duration

1 May 2017 -1 Aug 2019

Project manager

Bart Visser

Researchers

Annette Brons

prof. dr Ben Kröse

Bart Visser

Katja Braam

Aline Broekema

Annieck Ricken – Timmerman

Karel Millenaar

Funding

This research has been made possible in part by the RAAK Public Regulation (SIA management body).