Summer 2010 Vol.

2 Issue 3

IN THIS ISSUE: Page 2 - FOREWORD FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE - Page 4 - INTERVIEW
WITH JEANETTE KOPAK - Page 6 - CLINIPEARLS: BC CLINICAL - Page 7 - HIGH SCORE FOR WII-
HABILITATION - Page 9 - HEADLINE IN eHEALTH: HOSPTIAL IT BUDGETS GROWING - Page 10
- ON THE TICR WITH JENNIFER CORDEIRO AND NELSON SHEN

Thanks to all of you, the TICr newsletter
has enjoyed great readership and
distribution, not only to our group
of TEKTIC researchers, but far and
wide to many different communities
and researchers that we wouldn’t
have known when we started this
publication. Your comments and
suggestions over the last year have
been highly valuable to help us in
evolving our content to fit your interests
and needs. I also want to take this
opportunity to thank Nelson Shen and
Jennifer Cordeiro for their hard work
to make this newsletter so successful.
Starting the next issue, we will be
further evolving our format and
Page 2
publication frequency as our
TEKTIC research network matures
from our initial four years of a MSFHR
supported network to our new and
exciting new phase of collaboration.
We will be continuing our live and on
line research/knowledge exchange
rounds every month (third Thursday of
every month, 1 to 2 pm PST), together
with articles and interviews of interest
to our community of readers and
your suggestions. We look forward
to your continuing participation,
readership, and suggestions to
ensure that TICr meet your eHealth/
knowledge translation needs.
Sincerely,
Kendall Ho, MD FRCPC
TEKTIC Executive Director
Director, eHealth Strategy Office,
Assistant Professor, Division
of Emergency Medicine,
Faculty of Medicine,
University of British Columbia
Page 3
 What was the defining moment in your
career which has led you to where you
are today?

Seeing the ABC News Videosource

videodisc in 1989. It showed me
the potential of non-linear media in
enhancing communications.

Do date, what do you consider your

biggest professional accomplishment?

Leading a project to find, catalogue,

preserve and selectively digitize all CBC
archive material.

What has been your biggest professional

hurdle?

Getting the 1996 Olympics website

launched at CBC.

What is one job/profession that you have

yet to try a hand at during your career so
far that you would still like to try?

I think I would like to teach.

Where do you see digital media 10 years

in the future and how can that be used in
a health care context?

I think digital media will become a

primary tool in helping people stay
healthy. Although there are many
websites that do that now, the ability to
do scenario based games and interactive
what-if scenarios will help shift attitudes.
The role of games will make learning
about health and healthy lifestyles more
engaging.

Projects @ Centre for Digital Media

ANSWER - The Animated, Self-serve,

Web-based Research Tool (ANSWER

Page 4
tool) is a research-based, CIHR
funded project combining expertise
from researchers Dr. Linda Li at the
University of British Columbia, Paul
Adam at the Mary Pack Arthritis
Program and the Arthritis Research
Centre (ARC) and digital media
know-how from the students in the
Masters of Digital Media Program.
The ANSWER tool is an online
solution for Rheumatoid Arthritis
patients who want to find accurate,
relevant information regarding their
recently diagnosed condition and the
potential uses of methotrexate.
ARC - We also developed an
elearning tool for the Arthritis
Research Centre (ARC) called
Making it Work. This project takes
a 4 inch thick manual and breaks
it down into interactive activity
based learning to help people with
Rheumatoid Arthritis stay employed
and manage day to day living with
the condition.
Tell us about one key issue or event
that inspired it?
The ANSWER Tool is a great
example of a collaborative, multi-
disciplinary effort. Digital media,
by its nature, requires a cross-
expertise approach as programmers,
designers and artists work together.
The ANSWER Tool is a wonderful
example of how that extends beyond
the digital realm and into the world
of researchers, doctors, social
workers and patients...
The Tool also demonstrates how
digital media is making huge strides
in non-entertainment arenas such as
healthcare.
What stage is the project at currently? concerns. Based on a model of
The students produced six animated
shorts, about 5-7 minutes each. The
animations are linked to an online
interactive website whose basic
prototype has been approved.
Arthritis Research Centre (ARC) will
be undergoing some additional user
testing before continuing the full
development of the tool in the fall.
What can we look forward to seeing
from it in the future?
The ANSWER tool is an online
interactive decision aid that provides
evidence-based information and
helps patients decide what is
right for them. Unlike other digital
decision aids, the ANSWER Tool is
emotionally engaging and represents
current and real life situations. It
also provides information to patients
in the form of a printable take
away, which can be referred to
when talking to a doctor about their
active consumerism, the ANSWER
tool will teach patients to take control
of their disease. If this project is
successful, additional digital decision
aids will come undoubtedly come
online.

If you had a million dollars drop

If you were stuck on a desert island
What was your first job?
with only three things (inanimate
Working in the stationery
objects), what would they be?
department at Eaton’s.
Ipod loaded with music, yoga
What is your favorite technological mat and my stuffed Grover.
development from the past 10-15
What is your guilty pleasure or
years?
indulgence?
iPod
Red wine
from the sky, what would you do
with it? (from interview with Dean
Giustini)
Count it to make sure it wasn’t
a million Monopoly dollars
then pay off my house and
work on the world’s next great
graphic novel for the iPad.
If you had a question for the next
TICr Interviewee, what would it be?
Is health just a state of mind?

Page 5
CliniPEARLS: BC primary purpose of this project is Read more about CliniPEARLS and
to make mobile electronic clinical download the software at www.
Clinical Practice practice guidelines available clinipearls.ca/bcguidelines.
Guidelines on the to medical residents in British
Columbia. From a technical
Go! standpoint,
By Helen Novak Lauscher this allows us
to evaluate
Clinicians are increasingly using clinical practice
mobile devices such as smart guidelines in
phones and PDAs in their practice. this condensed
This includes guideline and format. We
protocol look-up at point-of-care. will be asking
Guidelines and protocols often residents: “How
change when new evidence is useful are the
introduced, necessitating access guidelines’
to the latest evidence-based content within
information. There are currently 52 your clinical
BC-specific guidelines (Available practice, and
at www.bcguidelines.ca/gpac/) “How usable is
formulated by the Guidelines and CliniPEARLS as
Protocol Advisory Committee a clinical tool?”
(GPAC). Full GPAC guidelines By providing the
contain a large amount of latest evidence
information; up to 18 pages long. in primary care
The UBC eHealth Strategy Office to the next
and GPAC are working together generation of
to develop condensed versions physicians, we
of these guidelines, formatted for aim to increase
mobile devices. Guidelines for 32 the adoption of
chronic disease conditions are clinical practice
currently available in this format. guidelines
and expand
We have just begun a research
the education
project in collaboration with the
of medical
Faculty of Medicine at UBC to
residents by
evaluate the iPhone version with
incorporating
Family Practice and International
new
Medical Graduate residents, who
technologies into
will be using CliniPEARLS and
their practice.
providing in-depth feedback. The

Page 6

Demonstration of Interactive Rehabilitation and Exercise System
Source: http://www.gesturetekhealth.com/pdf/irex_side.pdf
High Score for Wii-Habilitation
By Farida Hussien
In July 2007, GestureTek, a Toronto based company
pioneering in gesture-based control of interactive dis-
play systems launched IREX – (Interactive Rehabilitation
and Exercise System,) a software enhanced computer
system that centres neurologically impaired patients as
key players in a video game designed to encourage the
rehabilitation of motor functions necessary for everyday
living.
Using sophisticated camera technology, IREX captures the
patient’s image juxtaposed against a green screen, and
submerges it in a simulated sport or game environment.
The patient is then guided through clinically prescribed
therapeutic exercise programs with the assistance of a
virtual coach. IREX trains the patient in a range of human real-time monitoring systems.
movements like walking, rotation, flexing, balance, pos-
ture, and hand-eye coordination, through involved sports
like drumming, soccer, basketball, volleyball, swimming
and simpler games like popping balloons
and sorting laundry. IREX can be tuned
to meet clinician specified requirements,
isolating certain body parts/movements
and creating reports to track the gamer’s
progress.
By 2008, an increasing number of
physiotherapists were vouching for
the effectiveness of gaming towards
improved speech and motor functions
in both adults and children. As the
technology became easily available,
rehabilitation centres added gaming
as an entertaining supplement to their
traditional rehabilitation programs. At
the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary,
stroke patients played Nintendo Wii
video game systems. One patient,
Jack Veldhuyzen, was an enthusias-
tic golfer before he came to Foothills
with Guillain-Barre syndrome (causing
severe nerve inflammation and progres-
sive muscle weakness.) The syndrome
forced Veldhuyzen to quit ‘real-life’ golf, but he was able
to play many rounds of Wii-golf during rehabilitation. “It
helped with balance, motor skills and with confidence,”
he affirmed, “It lets you get back into doing things. It just
helps prepare you to get back into normal life again.”
The beauty of Wii- habilitation is that it allows patients
to do things that they never thought they could do.
Snowboarding and beach volleyball isn’t generally on
the list of daily activities for a child with Spastic Diplegic
Cerebral Palsy or an adult suffering from Parkinson’s,
but with the safety of a simulated environment, and the
guidance of a trained therapist, virtual adventures and wii-
activities are a creative way to make a repetitive task fun
and inspiring. Patients often don’t even realize just how
hard they’re working towards recovery. Moreover, the wii-
environments can double as inexpensive and unobtrusive
Continued Next Page...
Page 7
 Continued...
Now in 2010, there is little doubt remaining about the
effectiveness of games for health. Gustavo Saposnik,
MD, director of the Stroke Outcomes Research Unit at St.
Michael’s Hospital in Toronto proved the effectiveness of
Wii-habilitation in a controlled study. In an interview with
WebMD he said, “For the first time, we’ve shown that the
virtual reality gaming system is safe, feasible, and poten-
tially effective at improving motor function after stroke.”
11 stroke victims could reach out and grab objects easily
and more quickly after two weeks of playing active video
games.
In February, a study in Taiwan assessed two persons with
multiple disabilities to see if they would be able to control
Residents of Yorkville Lifecare Centre participate in the Wii Senior Olympics
Photo: Brett Gundlock/National Post, National Post
Page 8
environmental stimulation using a Wii Balance Board with
a newly developed standing posture detection program
(a new program turns the balance board into a precise
standing posture detector). Both participants signifi-
cantly increased their target response. In April this year,
Edmonton’s Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital acquired
CAREN (Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment) to
rehabilitate soldiers and civilians with physical or mental
injuries. As Microsoft launches it’s Project Natal for Xbox,
where, according to their slogan, “the only experience
you need is life experience,” it is merely a matter of time
before video games become the ubiquitous route towards
better health for neurologically impaired patients.
Headline
in eHealth:
Hospital IT budgets growing, despite
eHealth scandals
August 26th, 2010
TORONTO - Although the eHealth scandals of 2009
wreaked political havoc on provincial governments across
the country, the majority of hospital IT budgets have
increased this year over last and the trend is expected to
continue in 2011-2012.
As part of a survey dealing mainly with interoperability
and connectivity, Canadian Healthcare Technology recently
asked 300 CIOs and IT directors across the country about
their IT budgets, and whether the eHealth embarrassments
of the last year have taken a toll on IT projects at their
hospitals. Fifty-two CIOs and IT directors responded and
completed the survey. Many of them are responsible for
multiple hospitals and whole health regions.
According to the respondents, average spending on IT in
2009-2010 reached 3.02 percent of hospital operating
budgets. Hospital IT spending is expected to rise to 3.17
percent in 2010-2011 (the current year), and to 3.23 per-
cent of operating budgets in 2011-2012.
Still, about a quarter of Canada’s hospitals have seen their
information technology budgets reduced as a result of the
eHealth scandals that erupted last year. Of them, 15% said
it will take two to three years for their budgets to recover,
while another 8.5% said it will take three years or more.
On the whole, however, it appears that hospital execu-
tives and boards have been convinced of the importance
of further investments and are determined to carry on with
modernization. At the same time, many lessons have been
learned in the past few years about IT project management
in the healthcare sector, lessons that, with any luck, should
lead to better outcomes.
Hospital executives apparently have more confidence in
themselves than their governments to create eHealth sys-
tems. Asked if they thought their provincial governments
had an ability to create an effective eHealth strategy, 42
percent of the respondents said not at all; 52 percent said
their governments had ‘a moderate ability’; and only 6 per-
cent checked off the ‘excellent ability’ category. So much
for confidence in the government designers of a modern
healthcare system.
Canadian Healthcare Technology’s study, titled “The
Communication Gap: Problems and Plans for Interoperable
Systems in Canadian Hospitals,” covers the following
topics:
• the state of clinical interoperability within hospitals and
with outside hospital organizations;
• clinical interoperability among hospitals, long-term care
centres and physician practices;
• barriers to interoperability and connectivity;
• usage of various standards in hospitals;
• wireless use in hospitals today and plans for the near
future;
• views of CIOs and IT directors on whether provincial
eHealth programs are useful - or not;
• IT investment plans.
The full report, with tables and analysis, will be published
by Canadian Healthcare Technology this fall.
Source: Canadian Health Care Technology
http://www.canhealth.com/News1468.html
Page 9
 Nelson’s Questions
for Jen:
In 10 words, how did you
get involved with TEKTIC?
Started on grant application
during first week working for
Kendall (the rest is history).
What is your definition of
eHealth?
When I try to explain it to
people, I break it down into
the technology piece (so
using electronic tools like
mobile phones, email, the
Internet, etc) and the human/
health piece (to help deliver
and support health services
and health education- for
professionals, students and
the public).
As TEKTIC Coordinator, what
project was your favourite
under this portfolio?
As the coordinator I had the
opportunity to hear about
all the projects, but only
worked on a few. I think
one of my favorites was the
iCON one surveying the
older Chinese population in
Vancouver about electronic
personal health records.
There were some very
insightful and interesting
responses and a really good
discussion about the poten-
tial benefits and challenges.
How is married life?
The first two months have
been as great as the past
nine and a half years.

TICr FAVOURITES:
Favourite Issue
J:I like them all, but prefer more recent issues that include
more articles from other writers and links to current eHealth
news and YouTube videos.
N: My favourite Issue is the iPhone issue since I am a Mac
fanboy and I can’t live without my iPhone. I think the sub-
heading was “BIGGEST ISSUE EVER!”
Favourite Interview
J: I don’t think I could pick just one, but will say my favou-
rite part of all the interviews was hearing how the different
members ended up working in eHealth. Everyone has such
different background and have taken different paths, but
all found an interest in eHealth. It’s fascinating to see how
such a diverse group of disciplines and experience can all
inform eHealth.
N: It’s hard to say since I was very invested in the first few
interviews as we (Jen and I) transcribed the interviews and
put it in prose. Writing up those interviews took a long
Page 10
time and would definitely bias those against all the other
great interviews featured in the TICr.
Favourite Cover
J: June 2009- the one with the picture from the KCLC music
project. Not only is it a cool picture, but it also really
capture the engagement and the voice of the youths who
participated in that workshop, visually representing a
TEKTIC public engagement project.
N: October 2009 - Fall CatchUp- I had a bit of fun with this
cover
Favourite Interview Question from On the TICr.
J: I like Sandra’s- How long can you live without technol-
ogy? It’s makes you really start to think how immersed
various technologies have become in our everyday lives.
N: Helen’s “what was the first CD/Cassette/Vinyl you’ve
ever purchased?” only because Sandra’s facial expression
was priceless when we asked her during her interview. As
a refresher, it was Iron Maiden Number of the Beast. Sorry
Sandra!
Past On the TICr Questions
What is the First CD/Cassette/Vinyl you’ve ever purchased?
(Dr. Helen Novak Lauscher – May 2009)
J: A New Kids on the Block tape in grade 7.
years. I thought it couldn’t get any better than Jurassic Park
and Terminator 2. Boy, was I wrong.
What Technology gives health it’s biggest bang for the
buck?
(Dr. Cameron Norman – January 2010)

N: Ice-T - Power - I bought it in grade 6. It had a parental J: Devices like the iPhone that can connect people to infor-
advisory warning on the cover. Needed to hide it from my mation and help manage health through fun, and easy to
parents. use applications.

How long can you live without Technology? N: Smartphones. They are able to do almost anything and
(Dr. Sandra Jarvis Selinger – June 2009) everything. I love my new iPhone 4. FaceTime is amazing!

J: Probably about a weekend or so. Personally I could get
by for awhile, but professionally I’d be paralyzed.
N: I did go on a camping trip for a weekend, but then
I had my iPod with me. Maybe three days before I com-
pletely lose it.
If you had a million dollars drop from the sky, what would
you do with it?
(Dean Giustini – March 2010)
J: I’d travel around the world and take classes on the cul-
tures of all the different destinations while I’m there.

What is one thing about technology that you never
expected it to be able to do?
(Dr. Elaine Chong – July 2009)
J: I never thought about how it could be and (now has
become) so ubiquitous. As it develops, it engages more
and more users in different ways.
N: I am amazed by how much CGI has developed over the
N: Is a million dollars enough to buy a house in Vancouver?
Is Health just a state of mind?
(Jeanette Kopak – July 2010)
J: I would argue not “just a,” but is.
N: Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
(note: Star Wars reference and not calling anyone a Sith)

Jen’s Questions embedded PDF. I know that

for Nelson:
How did working on the
TICr form your understand-
ing of TEKTIC?
Watching Jen coordinate
the monthly project profiles
and seeing the diversity of
projects really helped me
appreciate the magnitude of
the collaboration. It’s pretty
amazing when you think
about it.
In your opinion, what fea-
ture/ section in the TICr was
favoured by most?
It is hard to say since we
stopped posting the TICr
on the website based on
features and went for the
before we started with the
embedded PDF viewer, the
interviews had a big draw.
What article provoked the
most amount of attention or
feedback?
Never got much feedback,
but the iPhone issue was by
far the most popular.
What was your favorite TICr
article/ feature to work on?
I would say the Headlines in
eHealth. It was an oppor-
tunity for me to keep upto
date with what was happen-
ing in the field. I guess I will
have to make time on my
own watch now that we are
transitioning to a new phase
of the TICr.
Page 11
 Would you
like to have
your project
profiled in
t h e T I C r,
present your
project at an
upcoming Check www.tektic.ca/elluminate_sessions.htm
Elluminate for the next elluminate session!
session, or have an announcement to
make? Please email Jennifer Cordeiro at
Jennifer.c@ubc.ca for more details.
Frames of Mind is a monthly film event
founded by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, TEKTIC
member, utilizing film and video to promote
professional and community education on
issues pertaining to mental health and illness.
SUMMER CLASSICS SERIES: Scorceses & De Niro x 2
Widely acknowledged as the greatest American filmmaker of his generation, Martin Scorsese was born in New York City in
1942 and educated at the NYU Film School, where he received his MFA in 1966. His first feature-length film, 1967’s Who’s
That Knocking at My Door (made with actor Harvey Keitel and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, both fellow students who would
become long-term collaborators) marked the beginning of an auspicious career that encompasses, to date, 21 feature films and
10 documentaries, many of which are now considered classics.
Early in the 1970s, friend and fellow director Brian De Palma introduced Scorsese to a young actor named Robert De Niro,
whom Scorsese would cast in his 1973 film Mean Streets. This marked the beginning of a long and fruitful creative relationship,
resulting in some of the director’s best work. Three years after Mean Streets, De Niro was given the lead role in Taxi Driver. The
pair would teamed for New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983), Goodfellas (1990), Cape
Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). Of the eight films Scorsese has made with De Niro, three appear on the American Film Institute’s
list of the 100 best American movies of all time: Raging Bull (#24), Taxi Driver (#47) and Goodfellas (#94).

RAGING BULL
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:30pm
USA 1980. Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto
Post-screening discussion with Michael van den Bos

TAXI DRIVER
Wednesday, August 21, 2010 7:30pm
USA 1976. Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd,
Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Albert Brooks
Post-screening discussion with Mark Harris

For more information, tickets, full reviews, and trailers, visit www.framesofmind.ca.

The TICr is Made Possible Through the Partnership of the Following Insitutions: