Literature Review

A sampling of four apps for grieving usersJournal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries; Danielle Becker; 5/25 Users experiencing grief tend to find themselves on a lonely journey. Integrating multiple approaches to facilitate this journey can help users through the grieving process. Utilizing the unique features of Mobile Apps gives users a private and personal space to explore their feelings and gain insights into the grieving process. In some cases, they provide an opportunity to work one-on-one with therapists and find community with other users who are also working through their grief. Mobile apps can provide information and combat the loneliness common in grief experiences while also providing emotional support.

7 browser extension rules every organization should follow to stay secure PI - Programming Insider; by Mar Berman; 6/9/25 Browser extensions have become essential for workplace productivity. Yet, they pose serious security risks that many organizations ignore. These small programs can access sensitive data, alter web content, and create openings for cyberattacks. ... This article presents seven important rules for organizations to manage risks effectively. Whether you work in IT or lead a team, these steps keep your network safe and easy to use. ...

Online dialectical behavioral therapy for emotion dysregulation in people with chronic pain-A randomized clinical trialJAMA Network Open; Nell Norman-Nott, BPsychSc; Nancy E. Briggs, PhD; Negin Hesam-Shariati, PhD; Chelsey R. Wilks, PhD; Jessica Schroeder, PhD; Ashish D. Diwan, MD, PhD; Jina Suh, PhD; Jill M. Newby, PhD; Toby Newton-John, PhD; Yann Quidé, PhD; James H. McAuley, PhD; Sylvia M. Gustin, PhD; 5/25Chronic pain, defined as pain persisting beyond 3 months,1 affects 20% to 30% of the population. Beyond its sensory experience, chronic pain is an intrinsically emotional experience associated with heightened negative emotions, including anger, worry, and low mood, alongside a diminished capacity to regulate emotions. Dysregulated emotions contribute to comorbid psychological disorders; symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are present in 50% to 80% of people with chronic pain; and worsening pain intensity. One emotion regulation–focused intervention being adapted for chronic pain is dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). In DBT skills training, emotion regulation is improved by encouraging emotion recognition, emotion expression, and reaction evaluation. Results of small in-person trials of DBT for people with chronic pain show promise to improve emotion dysregulation, depression, anxiety, and pain intensity.

Medical robots to the rescue: New technologies to help our healthNIH News in Health; 6/2/25What do you think of when you hear the word robot? Is it a human-like assistant with a friendly face, or a large and menacing foe? Generally, a robot is a machine that that’s been built to perform specific tasks. [This article highlights:]

ACC issues new tool to provide guidance on using Apple Watch for heart health monitoring American College of Cardiology; ACC News Story; 5/20/25 The ACC has issued a new "Leveraging Apple Watch for Cardiovascular Care" tool, designed to provide guidance for clinicians and patients using health data collected while wearing an Apple Watch to effectively track and manage cardiovascular health. Through the tool, clinicians can establish best practices for incorporating Apple Watch data relevant to a patient's care plan, create an implementation plan for collecting and responding to data, and develop processes for working with patients to ensure they are using the watch correctly and seeking care where appropriate. The tool also advises when an Apple Watch should not be used, including clinically indicated rhythm monitoring where immediate alerts to a clinician are needed. 

What is it like to die? University of Minnesota’s VR experience offers some answers. The Minnesota Star Tribune; by Richard Chin; 5/2/25 Our reporter returned from the Embodied Labs experience with some thoughts on what he’d like his last hours to look like. When the University of Minnesota offered to let me experience what it’s like to die, naturally I said yes. Aren’t we all morbidly curious about the undiscovered country, as Hamlet put it, from which no traveler returns? Except this time, happily, I would get to return because it would be a virtual death, an experience in a VR studio that’s part of the university’s Health Sciences Library system.

[Philippines] Virtual mourning: How Filipinos utilize Facebook to express grief and seek support – A hermeneutic phenomenological studyMarc Kenneth F. Cabañero, Ma. Teresa Tricia Guison-Bautista; 4/25This study explores how grieving Filipinos use Facebook to cope with loss and seek support, integrating traditional mourning practices with digital expressions of grief. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten bereaved Filipinos to examine their online grieving experiences. Thematic analysis identified three key themes: the blending of traditional mourning rituals with Facebook for emotional support, the validation and relief provided by online interactions, and the role of digital mourning in fostering healing. Findings suggest that social media enhances Filipino bereavement practices by strengthening community connections and preserving cultural traditions. The study emphasizes the need for culturally sensitive digital spaces and grief support services that integrate both online and offline mourning.

AI tool uses face photos to estimate biological age and predict cancer outcomes Mass General Brigham - Technology & Innovation - Research; by Hugo Alerts, Ray Mak, Dennis Bontempi, Osbert Zalay, Danielle S. Bitterman, Fridolin Haugg, Jack M. Qian, Hannah Roberts, Subha Perni, Vasco Prudente, Suraj Pai, Christian Guthier, Tracy Balboni, Laura Warren, Monica Krishan, and Benjamin H. Kann; 5/8/25 Mass General Brigham findings suggest FaceAge tool could provide objective data to help inform treatment decisions in cancer care and other chronic diseases. Eyes may be the window to the soul, but a person’s biological age could be reflected in their facial characteristics. Investigators from Mass General Brigham developed a deep learning algorithm called FaceAge that uses a photo of a person’s face to predict biological age and survival outcomes for patients with cancer. They found that patients with cancer, on average, had a higher FaceAge than those without and appeared about five years older than their chronological age. Older FaceAge predictions were associated with worse overall survival outcomes across multiple cancer types. They also found that FaceAge outperformed clinicians in predicting short-term life expectancies of patients receiving palliative radiotherapy. Their results are published in The Lancet Digital Health.Editor's note: This summary article is published by the main source, Mass General Brigham. Various articles are being written about this new use of AI.

'Patients just get violent' | Louisville healthcare workers describe attacks on the job, calling it a crisis ABC WHAS-11, Louisville, KY; by Shay McAlister, Joseph Garcia, Phillip Murrell, and MIchelle Zelli Right now Louisville’s nursing community is facing a crisis, saying they are under attack while on the job.  Since March, police have been called to three different Louisville hospitals after a nurse was assaulted. But those are only the attacks that are reported, several nurses told WHAS11 they face dangerous situations daily without the necessary support. ... The three incidents of violence against nurses sit on a map of hundreds of crimes reported at or near Louisville hospitals and nearby parking garages over the last year. According to LMPD’s crime data portal, 17 assaults were reported at Norton Hospital, 10 at Jewish Hospital, and 28 at the UofL Hospital parking garage over the last 12 months. ... “Many healthcare professionals that are harmed don't report it, and they don't report it because they don't think anybody will listen. And then there are others who think that it's part of the job. It is not part of the job,” CEO of the Kentucky Nurses Association Delanor Manson said. In 2023, Manson worked with lawmakers to formalize language requiring healthcare facilities to track incidents of violence and implement violence prevention strategies. It's a crisis for the career field. 

Ardent Health's first CDIO, a nurse, on the value of 'human-centric' technology Healthcare IT News; by Bill Siwicki; 4/23/25 Anika Gardenhire, RN, chief digital and information officer at the 30-hospital health system, is working to improve the provider and patient experience with ambient listening, augmented intelligence and more. Nashville-based Ardent Health includes 30 hospitals and more than 280 sites of care in six states, including Idaho, Kansas, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. ... 

Using technology to improve matching drug details in hospice care Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare (PSQH); by Matt Phillion; 4/17/25 For Wise Hospice Options, prescribers had been spending an average of 15 seconds matching each flagged drug and 20 seconds per drug entering missing sig, or label, details. Recently, they incorporated clinical-grade AI from DrFirst into automating this process, enabling those same providers to spend two to three seconds per drug, with fewer medications flagged for manual review by pill icons. ... The AI implementation allowed Wise to standardize data from different systems into a workflow that allows clinicians to see complete information before ordering prescriptions, helping avoid delays and reduce errors. Clinicians continue to review medication information for accuracy and adjust based on discussions with the patient but require fewer clicks and keystrokes so they can make faster, more informed decisions. ... Why the impact on hospice is key: The first thing to consider, Faubion explains, is that when it comes to hospice patients, they are going to be on a lot of medications. ...

Seeking human empathy, health insurers turn to AI Modern Healthcare; by Nona Tepper; 3/27/25 When Florida Blue wanted its call center employees to demonstrate greater emotional intelligence when dealing with customers, the nonprofit health insurance company enlisted a tutor incapable of emotion. A generative artificial intelligence, or genAI, chatbot instructs 30 Florida Blue customer service representatives on how to behave like human beings when interacting with other human beings. The chatbot guides workers on human behaviors, such as when to slow their speech, when to hasten a call to its conclusion and what to recommend to policyholders. The company plans to expand this pilot program to its entire 1,600-person call center team this year. [Continue reading ... access may be limited]Editor's note: Is this backwards? What happened to human kindness? Courtesy and core respect? I am a lifelong lover of new technologies. Still, I am surprised at this seemingly-backwards twist. For whatever works, may we learn and grow in "[behaving] like human beings when interacting with other human beings."

Four security updates to get ahead of proposed 2025 HIPAA Amendment Cisco Duo; by Katherine Yang; 3/31/25 Published in early January, the 2025 HIPAA Security Amendments are set to significantly enhance the protection of ePHI. The proposed changes are based off the US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) goals of both addressing changes in the health care environment and clarifying what compliance obligations look like for regulated entities. Organizations have 180 days to reach compliance according to stricter standards of identity cybersecurity if the proposed updates pass. In order to be prepared, here are four things your organization or managed security service provider should focus on: