Wearable and Patient-reported Outcome-based Continuous Assessment and Support Alerts in Palliative Care

Non-professional carers (typically family members) play a critical role in providing adequate home care along with professional caregivers. However, the physical and emotional toll of caring for a family member can lead to distress and burn out of the carer. The latter often results in the need for temporary or permanent institutional care of the patient. This research explores the feasibility of wearable sensors (WS) and electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) surveys to monitor activity patterns and stress levels of advanced cancer patient/caregiver dyads in order to understand their needs better.

Throughout the study, wearable sensors are used to passively record physiological data from patient/carer dyads. During wear times, WS recordings trigger ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) conducted via surveys. This pilot investigates the feasibility and acceptability of EMAs in community palliative care and the potential for incorporating EMA-based interventions into routine care. Future studies may explore the possibility of ecological momentary interventions (EMIs) to trigger just-in-time targeted interventions.

Inclusion criteria

• Palliative care patient attending at Northern Sydney Cancer Centre, RNSH
• Patient and carer dyad
• Both patient and carer consent
• Patient Karnofsky Performance Scale ≥ 50
• Patient and carer have compatible smart phone

Exclusion criteria

• Unwilling or unable to give informed consent