Promoting a Patient-Centered Understanding of Safety in Acute Mental Health Wards: A User-Centered Design Approach to Develop a Real-Time Digital Monitoring Tool

Background: Acute mental health services report high levels of safety incidents that involve both patients and staff. The potential for patients to be involved in interventions to improve safety within a mental health setting is acknowledged, and there is a need for interventions that proactively seek the patient perspective of safety. Digital technologies may offer opportunities to address this need.

Objective: This research sought to design and develop a digital real-time monitoring tool (WardSonar) to collect and collate daily information from patients in acute mental health wards about their perceptions of safety. We present the design and development process and underpinning logic model and programme theory.

Methods: The first stage involved a synthesis of the findings from a systematic review and evidence scan, interviews with patients (n=8) and health professionals (n=17), and stakeholder engagement. Cycles of design activities and discussion followed with patients, staff, and stakeholder groups, to design and develop the prototype tool.

Results: We drew on patient safety theory and the concepts of contagion and milieu. The data synthesis, design, and development process resulted in three prototype components of the digital monitoring tool (WardSonar): (1) a patient recording interface that asks patients to input their perceptions into a tablet computer, to assess how the ward feels and whether the direction is changing, that is, “getting worse” or “getting better”; (2) a staff dashboard and functionality to interrogate the data at different levels; and (3) a public-facing ward interface. The technology is available as open-source code.

Conclusions: Recent patient safety policy and research priorities encourage innovative approaches to measuring and monitoring safety. We developed a digital real-time monitoring tool to collect information from patients in acute mental health wards about perceived safety, to support staff to respond and intervene to changes in the clinical environment more proactively.