Advancing stroke rehabilitation: the role of wearable technology according to research experts

Advancements in wearable technology have created new opportunities to monitor stroke survivors' behaviors in daily activities. Research insights are needed to guide its adoption in clinical practice, address current gaps, and shape the future of stroke rehabilitation. This project aims to: (1) Understand stroke rehabilitation researchers' perspectives on the opportunities, challenges, and clinical relevance of wearable technology for stroke rehabilitation, and (2) Identify necessary next steps to integrate wearable technology in research and clinical practice.

Using a phenomenological qualitative design, two 90-minute focus groups were conducted with 12 rehabilitation researchers. The focus groups consisted of semi-structured, open-ended questions on functional movement behavior, motor performance and benefits and pitfalls of wearable technology. The transcribed focus groups were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Three main themes were derived from the analysis: (1) Assessing activity performance is critical to inform interventions, (2) The demonstrated benefit is not commensurate with the added hassle, (3) Collaboration is needed between the industry, academia and end-users. Necessary future steps were recognized including the identification of intuitive and actionable metrics, and the integration of sensor-derived data with electronic health records and into clinical workflow to support self-management strategies.

Wearable technology shows great potential to complement and support stroke rehabilitation. Many key barriers to clinical adoption remain which underscore the necessity to foster collaborations between industry, academia, and the participants we serve.