Integrating smartwatches in community mental health services for severe mental illness for detecting relapse and informing future intervention: A case series
David Johnston, Rachael Foord, Achim Casties, Nola Viaphay, Ahmed Tohamy, Naomi Van Leeuwen, Jodie Sinclair, Daniel Talbot, Anthony Harris- Biological Psychiatry
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Pshychiatric Mental Health
Abstract
Objective
This case series explored the integration of smartwatches in a community mental health service to support severe mental illness (SMI) management and intervention. We examined whether biometric data provided by smartwatches could help to predict relapse and inform treatment decisions.
Method
Four Australian SMI outpatients of mixed diagnoses (age range = 19–24) were selected from a prior study. Clinicians accessed patients' biometric data (activity, sleep, heart rate, and electrodermal activity) through smartwatches.
Results
Changes in circadian rhythm and electrodermal activity preceded hospitalization in two cases. Additionally, smartwatch data was effectively used to guide targeted interventions, improving patient treatment outcomes.
Conclusion
Integrating smartwatches in community mental health services offers promise as adjunct tools for SMI management. However, ethical considerations on data privacy and technology reliance require further evaluation. Additionally, as this is a small case series, randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes are required to provide evidence for generalisability of results.