The use of heart rate monitoring in patient-caregiver interactions: a protocol for a mixed-methods study on feeling of closeness and safety

BackgroundPatients with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) are unable to communicate verbally, which makes it challenging for caregivers to understand and detect their emotions and needs. HR monitoring has been used as a tool to potentially gain a better understanding, as it can help identify distress and pain in these patients. Despite this, little is known about how HR monitoring affects relational aspects of care, including closeness and safety from the caregivers perspective. ObjectivesThis study aims to investigate how the use of HR monitoring as a communicative tool in everyday care affects caregivers perceived closeness in their interactions with patients with PIMD. MethodsParticipants: Caregivers who work regularly with patients with PIMD and who participate in the clinical testing of HR monitoring in care. DesignThe study uses a mixed-methods design. Pre-post questionnaires from approximately 58 caregivers using The Non-Verbal Patient-Caregiver Understanding Questionnaire and study-specific items will be used for quantitative data on closeness and safety. Semi-structured interviews with a subset of 4-6 caregivers will be carried out to collect qualitative data. Qualitative data will be analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, while quantitative data will be analyzed using within-subject paired samples t-tests and regression analyses. DiscussionThe study will advance our understanding of how HR monitoring affects relational aspects of care, in particular closeness and safety.