Table 6 Staff, patient and carer pre-implementation perceptions of wearable sensors
Wearable sensors | Pre-implementation perceptions of technology | MMAT quality rating​ | Conflicts of interest | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Potential uses or benefits | Staff 1 paper [53] n = 25 nurses | • Could help monitor risk and so prevent situations escalating, reducing violent incidents. • Provides information which patients may otherwise not express or which may not be observable by staff. • Could foster self-awareness amongst patients. • Facilitates less obtrusive monitoring without the need for physical contact. • Factors that could increase patient willingness to engage could include stylish design and having clear benefits to wearing the device (e.g. if it affected their leave status). | High | None |
Concerns and potential harms | Staff 1 paper [53] n = 25 nurses | • Device could be used as a ligature due to elastic armband. • Device could be used as a weapon to cause harm to self or others. • Could exacerbate patient paranoia. • Concerns about data security and patient confidentiality. • Could add to staff’s workloads (e.g. if need to manually upload/analyse data, monitoring patient use of the technology, or if checklists accompany them). • Patients’ willingness to use the technology may change depending on their mental state. | High | None |