Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine 2011. Advanced Technologies in Behavioral, Social and Neurosciences (Technology and Informatics 167)

Description

The field of cybertherapy is becoming more widely accepted and implemented worldwide. The advantages that tele-health and mobile health have to offer, such as more readily accessible medical records, reliable user-friendly health advice on demand and patient-centric care are undeniable, and have resulted in exciting advances in how the needs of patients and caregivers alike are addressed. Better educated patients are becoming more responsible and proactive, taking charge of their own health and adopting and adhering to healthier lifestyle choices, and the goal of a healthy population and more efficient and effective healthcare becomes more attainable each day.

This book presents contributions from researchers and practitioners in the field of cybertherapy which not only illustrate the progress made in treating a variety of disorders, but also identify the challenges still faced in this field; such as the development of easy to use and more affordable hardware and software as well as the need to address potential side-effects and implement more controlled evaluation of cybertherapies as compared to more traditional treatments.

The book, which will be of interest to health professionals and patients alike, is divided into four sections: Critical Reviews contains summaries and evaluations of emerging cyber therapy topics; Evaluation Studies includes chapters which undertake to solve some specific practical problems and assess the value of cybertherapy interventions; Original Research addresses new cybertherapy methods or approaches; finally, Clinical Observations explores case studies and research protocols with long-term potential.

CONTENTS

• Front Matter
• Preface

• Section I. Critical Reviews
• Effectiveness of Cybertherapy in Mental Health: A Critical Appraisal
  Paul M.G. Emmelkamp
• Efficacy and Effectiveness of Online Cognitive Behavioral Treatment: A Decade of Interapy Research
  Jeroen Ruwaard, Alfred Lange, Bart Schrieken, Paul Emmelkamp
• Between Cyberplace and Cyberspace: the Researcher's Role in Virtual Setting Research
  Carlo Galimberti, Eleonora Brivio, Matteo Cantamesse
• The Similarity Between the Virtual and the Real Self – How the Virtual Self Can Help the Real Self
  Iva Georgieva
• Use of Robotics Kits for the Enhancement of Metacognitive Skills of Mathematics: a Possible Approach
  Filippo La Paglia, Rosalinda Rizzo, Daniele La Barbera
• Interpretations of Virtual Reality
  Alexander Voiskounsky
• Towards Immersive and Adaptive Augmented Reality Exposure Treatment
  Andreas Dünser, Raphaël Grasset, Hamish Farrant

• Section II. Evaluation Studies
• Isolating the Effect of Virtual Reality Based Exposure Therapy for Agoraphobia: a Comparative Trial
  Eric Malbos, Ronald M. Rapee, Manolya Kavakli
• Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment of Agoraphobia: a Comparison of Computer Automatic Virtual Environment and Head-Mounted Display
  Katharina Meyerbröker, Nexhmedin Morina, Gerard Kerkhof, Paul M.G. Emmelkamp
• New Technologies to Manage Exam Anxiety
  Alessandra Grassi, Andrea Gaggioli, Giuseppe Riva
• Virtual Reality Exposure on Nicotine Craving
  Pedro Gamito, Jorge Oliveira, André Baptista, Edgar Pereira, Diogo Morais, Tomaz Saraiva, Nuno Santos, Fábio Soares
• Interactive and Passive Virtual Reality Distraction: Effects on Presence and Pain Intensity
  Jose Gutierrez-Maldonado, Olga Gutierrez-Martinez, Katia Cabas-Hoyos
• Evolution of Smoking Urge During Exposure Through Virtual Reality
  Irene Pericot-Valverde, Olaya García-Rodríguez, Jose Gutierrez-Maldonado, Marta Ferrer-García, Roberto Secades-Villa
• Virtual Reality Exposure in Patients with Eating Disorders: Influence of Symptom Severity and Presence
  Marta Ferrer-Garcia, Jose Gutierrez-Maldonado
• Virtual Reality to Study Responses to Social Environmental Stressors in Individuals With and Without Psychosis
  Willem-Paul Brinkman, Wim Veling, Emily Dorrestijn, Guntur Sandino, Vanessa Vakili, Mark van der Gaag
• Validation of a Neuro Virtual Reality-based Version of the Multiple Errands Test for the Assessment of Executive Functions
  Simona Raspelli, Federica Pallavicini, Laura Carelli, Francesca Morganti, Barbara Poletti, Barbara Corra, Vincenzo Silani, Giuseppe Riva
• A Comparison of Text and Technology Based Training Tools to Improve Cognitive Skills in Older Adults
  Kevin Power, Grainne Kirwan, Marion Palmer

• Section III. Original Research
• The Development of the SWEAT Questionnaire: a Scale Measuring Costs and Efforts Inherent to Conducting Exposure Sessions
  Geneviève Robillard, Stéphane Bouchard, Stéphanie Dumoulin, Tanya Guitard
• Control Over the Virtual Environment Influences the Presence and Efficacy of a Virtual Reality Intervention on Pain
  Olga Gutiérrez-Martínez, José Gutiérrez-Maldonado, Desirée Loreto-Quijada
• Affective Reactions to Visually Masked Stimuli within a Virtual Environment
  Jason Drummond, Nadia Berthouze, Anthony Steed
• Virtual Reality and Exercise: Behavioral and Psychological Effects of Visual Feedback
  Daniel R. Mestre, Marine Ewald, Christophe Maiano
• Telepresence Experienced in Videoconference Varies According to Emotions Involved in Videoconference Sessions
  Stéphane Bouchard, Stéphanie Dumoulin, Mélanie Michaud, Véronique Gougeon
• Online Social Networking Amongst Teens: Friend or Foe?
  Bridianne O'Dea, Andrew Campbell
• Perceived Stress and Life Satisfaction: Social Network Service Use as a Moderator
  Qikun Niu, Yihao Liu, Zitong Sheng, Yue He, Xiaolin Shao
• People Like Virtual Counselors That Highly-Disclose About Themselves
  Sin-Hwa Kang, Jonathan Gratch
• A Comparison of Client Characteristics in Cyber and In-Person Counseling
  Lawrence Murphy, Dan Mitchell, Rebecca Hallett
• Towards a Web 2.0 Based Software for the Design and the Facilitation of Cognitive Stimulation Workshops
  Evelyne Klinger, Elise Martinet, David Perret
• Active Video Gaming to Improve Balance in the Elderly
  Claudine J.C. Lamoth, Simone R. Caljouw, Klaas Postema
• Simulated Interviews 3.0: Virtual Humans to Train Abilities of Diagnosis – Usability Assessment
  Claudia Peñaloza-Salazar, Jose Gutierrez-Maldonado, Marta Ferrer-Garcia, Azucena Garcia-Palacios, Antonio Andres-Pueyo, Angel Aguilar-Alonso
• A Lightweight Augmented Virtuality System for Providing a Faithful and Spatially Manipulable Visual Hand Representation
  Andreas Pusch, Olivier Martin, Sabine Coquillart
• An Evidence-based Toolset to Capture, Measure and Assess Emotional Health
  Edward Hill, Pierre Dumouchel, Charles Moehs
• Accuracy of a Brain Computer Interface (P300 Spelling Device) used by People with Motor Impairments
  Gunther Krausz, Rupert Ortner, Eloy Opisso

• Section IV. Clinical Observations
• Interweaving Interactions in Virtual Worlds: a Case Study
  Matteo Cantamesse, Carlo Galimberti, Gianandrea Giacoma
• Startle Reactivity in Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
  Dragica Kozarić-Kovačić, Andrea Jambrošić-Sakoman, Tanja Jovanovic
• Immersive Virtual Environments for Emotional Engineering: Description and Preliminary Results
  Alejandro Rodríguez, Beatriz Rey, Mariano Alcañiz

• Subject Index
• Author Index

PREFACE

A shift is slowly and surely occurring in the realm of healthcare – the field of cybertherapy is becoming more commonly recognized and its wide array of innovative technologies is becoming more widely accepted and implemented throughout the world. Although small-scale projects may be more common than wide-scale adoption of new, cutting-edge technologies, trends are repeatedly pointing to the fact that the advantages that telehealth and mobile health, for example, have to offer – more readily accessible medical records, user friendly, reliable health advice at your fingertips, “patient-centric” care – are undeniable and work to meet the needs of all those involved in healthcare.

The growth of cybertherapy is resulting in exciting advancements in the ways in which healthcare addresses patient and caregivers' needs alike. The resulting flexibility and innovative options mean that patients are becoming more educated, more responsible, and more proactive in taking charge of their own health. This, in turn, leads to adopting and adhering to healthier lifestyle choices. The end goal of healthier bodies, healthier minds, and more efficient, effective healthcare is becoming more real and attainable each and every day.

Although the task of fully adopting and integrating these new types of healthcare into existing healthcare systems may seem a daunting task, we aim to increase awareness on a basic level. In light of the proactive nature encouraged by cybertherapy and its components, we work to provide informative research and ongoing studies of innovative teams of researchers from around the globe. We hope that this volume helps to increase awareness of developing projects, and to identify fields which are in need of further attention.

We have put a great deal of effort into the definition of the structure of the volume and in the sequence of the contributions, so that those in search of a specific reading path will be rewarded. To this end we have divided the different chapters into four main sections:

1. Critical Reviews: These chapters summarize and evaluate emerging cybertherapy topics, including technology-enhanced rehabilitation, Interreality, and Intersubjectivity;
2. Evaluation Studies: These chapters are generally undertaken to solve some specific practical problems and yield decisions about the value of cybertherapy interventions;
3. Original Research: These chapters research studies addressing new cybertherapy methods or approaches;
4. Clinical Observations: These chapters include case studies or research protocols with long-term potential.

For both health professionals and patients, the selected contents will play an important role in ensuring that the necessary skills and familiarity with the tools are available, as well as a fair understanding of the context of interaction in which they operate.

In conclusion, this volume underlines how cybertherapy has made initial progress in treating a variety of disorders. However, there is more work to be done in a number of areas, including the development of easy-to-use and more affordable hardware and software, the development of objective measurement tools, the need to address potential side effects, and the implementation of more controlled studies to evaluate the strength of cybertherapy in comparison to traditional therapies.

We sincerely hope that you will find this year's volume to be a fascinating and intellectually stimulating read. We continue to believe that together we can change the face of healthcare.

Brenda K. Wiederhold, Stéphane Bouchard, Giuseppe Riva