Understanding carer needs for smartsocks for dementia patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Application of people-centred design methods to understand healthcare user needs for a sock-based wearable device (SmartSocks) supporting the recognition and management of distress in people living with dementia
IRAS ID
351935
Contact name
Henk Swanepoel
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Milbotix
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Patients with dementia experience behavioural distress. Effective management of this distress is critical to maintain the quality of life and general care of dementia patients. In this day and age technological solutions have the potential to assist with research studies into alleviating the distress. Milbotix are a health tech start-up who have developed SmartSocks that give accurate well-being insights: notably early recognition of distress. This study aims to determine the tolerability and feasibility of utilizing SmartSocks in people being treated for dementia in a hospital setting, to determine the accuracy of sensors built into SmartSocks for the purpose of measuring physiological biomarkers of heart rate and skin temperature and to determine the ability of SmartSocks to reliably detect signs of emotional distress in people being treated for dementia in a hospital setting. This feasibility study will be conducted in an in patient hospital setting involving 10 patients living with dementia.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/YH/0014
Date of REC Opinion
28 Feb 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion