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Published on: February 3, 2023
Assessing the Use of Wearable Mobile-Monitoring Devices Among Individuals With Serious Mental Illness: Qualitative
Aubrey M Freitas1, Jesus G Chavez1, Melissa Chinchilla1
1Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 11301 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90073, United States, 1 (310) 478-3711.
Background:
Serious mental illness (SMI) is difficult to treat for various reasons, such as rapid changes in symptoms, comorbid health conditions, long gaps between provider visits, and additional societal barriers experienced by this population. Wearable mobile-sensing devices can be used to passively collect valuable patient-generated health data, such as daily step count, heart rate variability, sleep information, and other health-related behaviors, which could inform and improve treatment for individuals with SMI. Wearable health devices have become more economically accessible, providing promise for the possibility of their implementation in health care. However, more information regarding how individuals with SMI perceive and interact with these devices is needed.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of using wearable mobile-sensing devices to improve treatment outcomes for Veterans with SMI. In addition, we were also interested in learning if privacy concerns would influence acceptability of devices, specifically surrounding location tracking and health information sharing, as well as assessing other barriers to device use.
Methods:
Qualitative interviews were conducted with participants who had been using a wearable health and fitness tracker for at least 2 weeks to explore their thoughts and perceptions of these devices. A total of 15 Veterans diagnosed with a SMI participated in interviews. Both thematic analysis and rapid qualitative analysis approaches were used to uncover findings in key domains and emergent themes.
Results:
Wearable fitness trackers allowed participants to conveniently monitor various aspects of their physical and mental health, provided a greater understanding of their overall well-being, and motivated them to reach personal health goals. Individuals were open to sharing their personal health information collected from the devices with providers to improve their health care treatment and expressed no privacy concerns surrounding data tracking or the device's global positioning system that monitors physical location. Participants experienced some technological challenges with using the fitness trackers, as well as the device's accompanying cell phone app. Furthermore, participants expressed difficulties in understanding and interpreting the health data that was collected from the health and fitness trackers. Greater ongoing technological support, in addition to physical device adjustments to enhance comfort and usability, were suggested ways of improving overall user experience.
Conclusions:
Participants with SMI in this sample were accepting of wearable mobile-monitoring devices and believe it is feasible to incorporate these fitness trackers into their daily lives. Furthermore, participants in this sample expressed no privacy concerns regarding location tracking or the sharing of health information collected from these devices with providers. Patient-generated health data collected from these devices may offer valuable information that could be used to inform health care treatment for this population.
