Enhancing Eldercare: Assessing Clinician's Perception of Linguistic Summaries in Health Monitoring Alert Systems

Abstract

Background With an aging population preferring to age in place, there's a need for efficient health monitoring systems in eldercare. This study assesses the effectiveness of a linguistic summary alert system compared with a standard health alert system requiring data visualization interpretation by clinicians.

Methods A total of 110 older adults from seven facilities were monitored for health alerts throughout 2019. The study analyzed the frequency of email alert interactions and surveyed clinicians' perceptions before and after system-specific training.

Results Linguistic alerts demonstrated a significant reduction in the need for data interface consultation, as indicated by a lower click-through rate for email alerts. Clinicians expressed a strong preference for linguistic alerts, which streamlined their decision-making process. Despite this, the post-training survey interval and limited participant demographic constrained the findings' generalizability.

Conclusion The linguistic summary alert system was found to improve nursing efficiency by succinctly communicating health trends, thus alleviating workload. The system's potential to augment care by preempting health declines was acknowledged. To fully realize its benefits, further research is warranted to explore its direct impact on health outcomes and the factors influencing technology acceptance in eldercare.

Keywords

eldercare - remote monitoring - clinicians' perceptions - independent living - health alert systems - clinical decision-making - email alert interactions

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

This study was reviewed and approved by the University of Missouri-Columbia Institutional Review Board, IRB no.: 2005938.

Publication History

Received: 15 August 2024

Accepted: 12 January 2025

Article published online:
14 May 2025

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