Sensing change - A qualitative study on the integration of wearables in aggression regulation treatment of forensic psychiatric outpatients
Method Stream: Qualitative research
ECs: Only 14 EC (standard, no new/own data collection. Applicable in case of a clinical internship)
Description
Wearables such as smartwatches k offer a broad range of opportunities to improve forensic mental healthcare for patients with aggression regulation problems. By means of biofeedback, wearables can be used for improving emotion regulation problems. By monitoring and giving real-time feedback on biomarkers such as heartrate and skin conductance, they can provide patients with more insight into what’s going on in their body (interoceptive awareness). Heartrate often rises before an aggressive outburst, but patients often lack the skills to recognize changes in these physiological processes that precede anger or aggression. Wearables can monitor these variables and provide patients with new insights by sending notifications in case a threshold is exceeded. They can also provide patients with tools to reduce tension and prevent outbursts, e.g. by offering breathing exercises. Furthermore, wearables offer the opportunity to work on treatment goals outside of sessions, increasing the intensity of treatment. Because of these possibilities, an increasing amount of attention is paid to wearables by therapists. However, not much is known about how to integrate wearables in treatment, and uptake in clinical practice is lagging behind on expectations. Consequently, there is a need for concrete tools on how to use these wearables in treatment.
Recently, a commercial wearable (Garmin Vivosmart 4) was introduced in several Dutch forensic outpatient clinics of Fivoor and Transfore. Two studies were conducted to investigate the experiences of patients and therapists: a qualitative interview study with 9 patients and 9 therapists, and a mixed-methods single-case study in which interviews with 8 patients and 4 therapists were conducted. Data analysis was mostly focused on effectiveness – showing that some patients benefit from the wearable, but not all. However, besides information on effectiveness, the interviews also contain many valuable information on implementation of wearables in clinical practice. Consequently, the goal of this qualitative study is to identify concrete tips and suggestions to integrate wearables into aggression regulation treatment, according to therapists and patients.
The interviews are already conducted and transcribed. Because the interviews are conducted in Dutch, we prefer a Dutch-speaking student, but an English-speaking student might also be possible after translating the interviews to English.