A smart tech lever to augment caregivers' touch and foster vulnerable patient engagement and well-being
Journal of Service Theory and Practice
ISSN: 2055-6225
Article publication date: 1 November 2021
Issue publication date: 13 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Some population groups face precarious health, reflecting their vulnerability, in terms of lack of agency or control. Smart technologies promise to transform people's lives from the enhanced connectedness, greater computational processing and more complex decision-making they can achieve. This study aims to investigate how smart technology can mitigate vulnerability and improve well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
The research group, of three scholars and three managers, pursued an action research methodology with an iterative process of planning, action and learning. The authors conducted three related action studies: (1) adopting smart technologies, (2) fostering patient engagement and (3) assessing well-being.
Findings
The adoption of sensors and wearable devices had positive impacts for both patients and caregivers. Technologies highlighted their meaning as resources to support actors' (caregivers' and vulnerable patients') activities. Smart devices as resources get integrated, stimulate change and enable new practices. For caregivers, such innovative solutions help improve their knowledge of patients and their ability to act efficiently; for vulnerable patients, they fostered engagement in daily activities to improve well-being.
Originality/value
The paper delineates an overall model (SEVP) that describes how the integration of high-tech and high touch enables patient engagement to mitigate vulnerability and improve well-being.
Keywords
Citation
Mele, C., Marzullo, M., Di Bernardo, I., Russo-Spena, T., Massi, R., La Salandra, A. and Cialabrini, S. (2022), "A smart tech lever to augment caregivers' touch and foster vulnerable patient engagement and well-being", Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 52-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTP-12-2020-0292
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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