Ray B Jones

• PhD Health Informatics University of Nottingham 1985
• Professor at University of Plymouth

Implementation of e-health in mental health services requires that we are aware of stakeholders' concerns. We ascertained the views of mental health professionals and mental health service users through the (1) development of 12 topics based on the research literature, (2) presentation to 31 participants (19 mental health professionals and 12 menta...

Google AdWords are increasingly used to recruit people into research studies and clinical services. They offer the potential to recruit from targeted control areas in cluster randomized controlled trials (RCTs), but little is known about the feasibility of accurately targeting ads by location and comparing with control areas. To examine the accurac...

One of the main determinants of cost in the follow-up of patients with chronic disease is the frequency with which they are seen in out-patient clinics. The implementation of clinical information systems allows this relationship to be investigated and rationalised. Such potential uses of clinical information systems should be considered when evalua...

To compare use, effect, and cost of personalised computer education with community psychiatric nurse education for patients with schizophrenia. Randomised trial of three interventions. Modelling of costs of alternatives. 112 patients with schizophrenia in contact with community services; 67 completed the intervention. Three interventions of five ed...

BACKGROUND Social care systems worldwide face increasing demographic and financial pressures. This necessitates exploring innovative technological solutions to enhance service delivery without significantly increasing costs. Conversational interfaces, including interactive voice response (IVR), chatbots, and voice assistants, have gained traction a...

Exploring the underwater world presents significant physical and financial barriers. Telepresence technologies offer a potential solution by a providing a more accessible version of an underwater experience. Our research involved a scoping review to consolidate previous findings on vision-based technologies that aim to recreate underwater experienc...

BACKGROUND Many ‘toolkits’ for developers have been designed but are sometimes criticised for their tokenistic approach. Few have been assessed for impact in real-world settings. Based on thematic analysis of 135 codesign workshops four preliminary toolkits were produced to help developers of digital products aiming to keep older people active. OB...

Objective To describe the experiences and opinions of general practitioners (GPs) in England regarding patients having access to their full online GP health records. Design Convenience sample, online survey. Participants 400 registered GPs in England. Main outcome measures Investigators measured GPs’ experiences and opinions about online record...

Objectives Health and care resources are under increasing pressure, partly due to the ageing population. Physical activity supports healthy ageing, but motivating exercise is challenging. We aimed to explore staff perceptions towards a virtual reality (VR) omnidirectional treadmill (MOTUS), aimed at increasing physical activity for older adult care...

Purpose The Generating Older Active Lives Digitally (GOALD) project aimed to explore how to use digital technology to keep older people physically active and socially connected for health and wellbeing. This project took a novel inclusive interdisciplinary approach working with a range of collaborating organisations to review and co-design digital...

Objective: To describe the experiences and opinions of general practitioners (GPs) in England regarding patients having access to their full online GP health record. Design: Convenience sample, online survey. Participants: 400 registered GPs in England. Main outcome measures: Investigators measured GPs' experiences and opinions about online record...

The UK is facing a nationwide staffing crisis within adult social care, due to difficulties in recruiting and retaining registered nurses. Current interpretation of legislation means nursing homes must always have the physical presence of a registered nurse on duty within the home. With the shortage of registered nurses increasing, reliance on agen...

Background: There is limited literature on security and access for social care settings despite policy highlighting importance, and no published research exploring facial recognition lock technology (FRLT) for potential improvements. This study explored FRLT device implementation, use, barriers and benefits. Methods: One residential care home wi...

BACKGROUND From 1st November 2022, patients accessing their care from NHS England will have full online access to new data added to their general practitioner (GP) record, by default. Since April 2019, the GP contract in England already commits practices to offering patients full online record access, on a prospective basis and on request. However,...

Background In 2022, NHS England announced plans to ensure that all adult primary care patients in England would have full online access to new data added to their general practitioner (GP) record. However, this plan has not yet been fully implemented. Since April 2020, the GP contract in England has already committed to offering patients full onlin...

Background Digital Twins (DTs), virtual copies of physical entities, are a promising tool to help manage and predict outbreaks of Covid-19. By providing a detailed model of each patient, DTs can be used to determine what method of care will be most effective for that individual. The improvement in patient experience and care delivery will help to r...

Purpose: Telerehabilitation has increasingly been used since the COVID-19 pandemic but with limited guidance available on undertaking physical assessments using remote methods. We aimed to provide such guidance by developing a Telerehab Toolkit, an online information and training resource for practitioners, patients, and carers on telerehabilitati...

em>Background . The principle reason for referral to specialist allergy clinics is to establish diagnoses and provide treatment plans to help patients manage their allergy. If patients do not accept, understand, or remember diagnoses or treatment, clinic visits may have been a waste of time. Few specialist allergy clinics follow up patients after d...

Background Robot pets may assist in the challenges of supporting an aging population with growing dementia prevalence. Prior work has focused on the impacts of the robot seal Paro on older adult well-being, but recent studies have suggested the good acceptability and implementation feasibility of more affordable devices (Joy for All [JfA] cats and...

BACKGROUND Social robots, including robot pets, may assist towads challenges of supporting an aging population with growing dementia prevalence. Prior work has focused on impacts of robot seal Paro on older adult wellbeing, but recent studies suggest good acceptability and implementation feasibility of more affordable devices (Joy for All (JfA) cat...

RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Telerehabilitation was used to ensure continued provision of care during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was a lack of guidance on how to use it safely and effectively for people with physical disabilities and movement impairment. In this service evaluation, we aimed to collate information on practitioner and patien...

Background: Health kiosks are publicly accessible computing devices that provide access to services, including health information provision, clinical measurement collection, patient self–check-in, telemonitoring, and teleconsultation. Although the increase in internet access and ownership of smart personal devices could make kiosks redundant, recen...

Background Video consultations (VCs) were rapidly implemented in response to COVID-19 despite modest progress before. Objective We aim to explore staff and patient experiences with VCs implemented during COVID-19 and use feedback insights to support quality improvement and service development. Methods Secondary data analysis was conducted on 955 pa...

Objectives We explored use and usability of general practitioner (GP) online services. Setting Devon and Cornwall, England. Design Mixed-methods sequential study based on qualitative interviews, analysis of routine eConsult usage and feedback data, and assessment of GP websites. Methods First, we interviewed 32 staff and 18 patients from seven p...

Objective: The objective of this review was to map the knowledge related to the use of mHealth as a primary mode of intervention for the prevention and management of gestational diabetes mellitus and its long-term implications among women at risk of or diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus. We also sought to understand if mHealth for women...

UNSTRUCTURED These are authors' responses to peer review of ms#30516.

Background: The use of smart speakers to improve well-being had been trialed in social care by others; however, we were not aware of their implementation in most care homes across a region in the Southwest of the United Kingdom. For the widespread adoption of new technology, it must be locally demonstrable and become normalized. Objective: The aim...

Objective To assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on parents’ health-seeking behaviour and care for a sick or injured child in the Netherlands. Design and setting An online survey on parents’ experiences with a sick or injured child during the COVID-19 lockdown periods was disseminated through social media. Participants Parents living in th...

Companion robots are social robots often resembling animals with potential wellbeing benefits for older adults. However, some such devices have failed possibly through inappropriate design. Method: Questionnaires were completed by 113 participants at nine health and care events. Participants were predominantly relevant professionals. Participants a...

Background During the COVID‐19 pandemic, the first UK lockdown (March to May 2020) witnessed a dramatic reduction in children presenting to primary/emergency care, creating concern that fear of the virus was resulting in children presenting late. Methods An online survey was co‐developed with UK parents to understand the impact of the lockdown on...

Objective To identify the available guidance and training to implement telerehabilitation movement assessments for people (adults and children) with a physical disability, including those recovering from COVID-19. Design Rapid scoping review. Included sources and articles PubMed, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, PEDro, UK Heal...

UNSTRUCTURED These are author responses to peer review.

Objectives : Socially assistive robots (SAR) may have an important role in health and social care. Design of such SAR can be informed through detailed studies with end-users, but we also need shared understanding of SAR between developers and those influencing policy. We aimed to explore the acceptability of using SAR across a broad range of stakeh...

BACKGROUND Telerehabilitation is a feasible and potentially effective alternative to in-person rehabilitation. However, specific guidance, training and support for practitioners who undertake remote assessments in people with physical disabilities and movement impairment is limited. OBJECTIVE The aims of this survey of United Kingdom (UK) based he...

Background: Telerehabilitation is a feasible and potentially effective alternative to in-person rehabilitation. However, specific guidance, training and support for practitioners who undertake remote assessments in people with physical disabilities and movement impairment is limited. Objective: The aims of this survey of United Kingdom (UK) base...

BACKGROUND Depression is a common mental health problem with significant personal and social consequences. Studies have suggested that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression and anxiety when delivered one to one by an expert practitioner, but access to this talking therapy is often limited and waiting lists can...

Background Depression is a common mental health problem with significant personal and social consequences. Studies have suggested that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression and anxiety when delivered one-to-one by an expert practitioner, but access to this talking therapy is often limited, and waiting lists can...

BACKGROUND Video consultations (VCs) were rapidly implemented in response to COVID-19 despite modest progress before. OBJECTIVE We aim to explore staff and patient experiences with VCs implemented during COVID-19 and use feedback insights to support quality improvement and service development. METHODS Secondary data analysis was conducted on 955...

Individuals with pathogenic variants in genes predisposing to bowel cancer are encouraged to share this information within their families. Close relatives at 50% risk can have access to bowel cancer surveillance. However, many relatives remain unaware of their vulnerability or have insufficient information. We investigated the feasibility and accep...

BACKGROUND Globally, pressure is increasing on health and social care resources due to the aging population and growing prevalence of dementia. Companion robots, such as Paro, demonstrate strong potential in helping reduce this pressure, through reported benefits including reduced agitation, depression, loneliness, care provider burden and medicati...

Background Globally, pressure is increasing on health and social care resources due to the aging population and growing prevalence of dementia. Companion robots, such as Paro, demonstrate strong potential for helping reduce this pressure through reported benefits including reduced agitation, depression, loneliness, care provider burden, and medicat...

BACKGROUND Understanding and assessing patients’ body movements is essential for physical rehabilitation but is challenging in video-consultations as clinicians are frequently unable to see the whole patient or see the patient performing specific movements. OBJECTIVE The objective of this exploratory study was to assess readily available technolog...

Background Understanding and assessing patients’ body movements is essential for physical rehabilitation but is challenging in video consultations, as clinicians are frequently unable to see the whole patient or observe the patient as they perform specific movements. Objective The objective of this exploratory study was to assess the use of readil...

Demographic changes are putting the healthcare industry under pressure. However, while other industries have been able to automate their operation through robotic and autonomous systems, the healthcare sector is still reluctant to change. What makes robotic innovation in healthcare so difficult? Despite offering more efficient, and consumer-friendl...

Objective Online patient feedback is becoming increasingly prevalent on an international scale. However, limited research has explored how healthcare organisations implement such feedback. This research sought to explore how an acute hospital, recently placed into ‘special measures’ by a regulatory body implemented online feedback to support its im...

BACKGROUND The NHS cannot keep up with the demand for operations and procedures. Preoperative assessments, which can last 30 minutes to 2 hours, could be conducted online to save patient and clinician time, reducing wait times for operations. MyPreOp is a cloud-based platform where patients can set up an account and complete their preoperative ques...

Background : Women experiencing gestational diabetes face challenges during and after pregnancy that could be supported with mobile health. Mobile health isn't routinely implemented and little is known regarding its use to aid information seeking, peer support and behaviour change. Understanding women's experiences of mHealth is critical to ensurin...

Background Video-calls have proven to be useful for older care home residents in improving socialization and reducing loneliness. Nonetheless, to facilitate the acceptability and usability of a new technological intervention, especially among people with dementia, there is a need for user-led design improvements. The current study conducted focus g...

Many educators argue for the benefits of nursing students engaging with social media but some have concerns about inappropriate use. In 2014, we introduced Digital Professionalism, a mandatory curriculum innovation including assessed Twitter use, for nursing but not midwifery students. British nursing students who display unprofessional behaviour a...

Background Intergenerational friendship has proved useful for older people in increasing socialisation. We explored the feasibility of school students Skyping older people in care homes with the long-term aim of reducing loneliness. Methods Six school students from one secondary school and twenty older people, including seven with mild to moderate...

BACKGROUND Smart speakers to improve wellbeing had been trialled in social care by others but we were not aware of any implementation at scale. For widespread adoption of new technology, it has to be locally demonstrable and become normalised. OBJECTIVE For 150 (two thirds) care homes in one rural and coastal region to install smart speakers and t...

Background The use of smart speakers to improve well-being had been trialed in social care by others; however, we were not aware of their implementation in most care homes across a region in the Southwest of the United Kingdom. For the widespread adoption of new technology, it must be locally demonstrable and become normalized. Objective The aim o...

Abstract Background Video consultations (VCs) were rapidly implemented in response to COVID-19, despite modest progress prior to the pandemic. Objectives To explore staff and patient experiences of VCs implemented during COVID-19, and use feedback insights to support quality improvement and service development. Methods Secondary data analysis was...

BACKGROUND Health kiosks are publicly accessible computing devices that provide access to services including health information provision, clinical measurement collection, patient self-check-in, telemonitoring and teleconsultation. While the increase in internet access and ownership of smart personal devices could make kiosks redundant, recent repo...

Background: Health kiosks are publicly accessible computing devices that provide access to services, including health information provision, clinical measurement collection, patient self-check-in, telemonitoring, and teleconsultation. Although the increase in internet access and ownership of smart personal devices could make kiosks redundant, rece...

Video calls using software such as Skype, Zoom and FaceTime can improve socialisation among older people and family, however it is unknown if video calls are able to improve socialisation among older people and their peers. Twenty-two residents across three British care homes engaged with each other using 'Skype quiz' sessions with the support of s...

Background: eHealth technologies are widely believed to contribute to improving health and patients’ experience of care and reducing health system costs. While many studies explore barriers to and facilitators of eHealth innovation, we lack understanding of how this knowledge can be translated into workable, practicable and properly resourced knowl...

Objective: To synthesize current knowledge on the use of mHealth as a primary mode of intervention for the prevention and management of gestational diabetes mellitus and its long-term implications among women at risk of, or diagnosed with, gestational diabetes mellitus. Introduction: Prevention and management of gestational diabetes mellitus and...

BACKGROUND Digital health (DH) innovation ecosystems (IE) are key to the development of new e-health products and services. Within an IE, third parties can help promote innovation by acting as knowledge brokers and the conduits for developing inter-organisational and interpersonal relations, particularly for smaller organisations. Kolehmainen’s qua...

University-Industry Collaboration (UIC) is beneficial in many ways, but despite the endorsements for these collaborations, execution is challenging. To identify the benefits industrial collaborators gain from UIC, and the barriers that might prevent UICs from succeeding, this paper reports five case studies from EPIC, a project tasked with developi...

Robots pets have reported potential in improving wellbeing for older adults and people with dementia, including through reducing depression, agitation, loneliness and medication use. Such devices are becoming widespread in care homes, and may be particularly beneficial at present, in light of increased loneliness and social isolation as a result of...

Background Paro and other robot animals can improve wellbeing for older adults and people with dementia, through reducing depression, agitation and medication use. However, nursing and care staff we contacted expressed infection control concerns. Little related research has been published. We assessed (i) how microbiologically contaminated robot an...

Background: Use of companion robots may reduce older people's depression, loneliness and agitation. This benefit has to be contrasted against possible ethical concerns raised by philosophers in the field around issues such as deceit, infantilisation, reduced human contact and accountability. Research directly assessing prevalence of such concerns...

BACKGROUND Often promoted as a way to address increasing demands, improve patient accessibility, and overall efficiency, electronic consultations are becoming increasingly common in primary care, particularly in light of the recent Covid-19 pandemic. However, despite their increasing use, a theoretically informed understanding of the factors that s...

Background Often promoted as a way to address increasing demands, improve patient accessibility, and improve overall efficiency, electronic consultations are becoming increasingly common in primary care, particularly in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite their increasing use, a theoretically informed understanding of the facto...

Background: Having a tax-funded and supposedly 'National' Health Service (NHS), one might assume that the UK is well-positioned to roll out eHealth innovations at scale. Yet, despite a strong policy push, the English NHS has been limited in the extent to which it has exploited the potential of eHealth. Main body: This paper considers a range of...

Objective Companion robots, such as Paro, may reduce agitation and depression for older people with dementia. However, contradictory research outcomes suggest robot design is not always optimal. While many researchers suggest user-centred design is important, there is little evidence on the difference this might make. Here, we aimed to assess its i...

With the global population aging at an alarming rate, the need to find alternative ways to deliver quality assistance is becoming a pressing concern for health and care systems. To promptly provide companion-like assistance, robots need to gain social intelligence in an autonomous way, without relying on human operators. The work described in this...

Numerous projects, normally run by younger people, are exploring robot use by older people. But are older any different from younger people in the way they want to interact with robots? Understanding older compared to younger people’s preferences will give researchers more insight into good design. We compared views on multi-modal human–robot inter...

Social interaction, especially for older people living alone is a challenge currently facing human-robot interaction (HRI). There has been little research on user preference towards HRI interfaces. In this paper, we took both objective observations and participants’ opinions into account in studying older users with a robot partner. The developed d...

Patient feedback is considered integral to patient safety and quality of care. However, limited research has compared the content of validated questionnaires with subjective patient experiences shared online. The aim of this study was to therefore identify and compare the content of psychiatric care experiences shared online with validated question...

We report the needs and challenges identified by health and social care professionals and service users for robotics and autonomous systems that are of importance to researchers and policymakers. To this end, we held eight workshops in different locations across Cornwall (UK) in which we raised awareness of the applications and opportunities of ass...

Objective: Functional Imagery Training (FIT) is a new brief motivational intervention based on the Elaborated Intrusion theory of desire. FIT trains the habitual use of personalised, affective, goal-directed mental imagery to plan behaviours, anticipate obstacles, and mentally try out solutions from previous successes. It is delivered in the clien...

Background Patient feedback is considered integral to healthcare design, delivery and reform. However, while there is a strong policy commitment to evidencing patient and public involvement (PPI) in the design of patient feedback tools, it remains unclear whether this happens in practice. Methods A systematic review using thematic analysis and cri...

Introduction: Physical activity is recommended for improving health among people with common chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis and low mood. One approach to promote physical activity is via primary care exercise referral schemes (ERS). However, there is limited support for the effectiveness of ERS for incre...

The ageing of the population deeply impacts on the social costs relative to health care. The use of modern technologies is one of the most promising approaches, under current study, to reduce such impact. In this demonstration, we propose a framework that can be employed for at-home assessment of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). It is composed by a...