Usability and acceptability of a hypothermia monitoring device in a community setting

Abstract

Background: The present pilot study aimed to test the usability and acceptability of the hypothermia monitoring device, i.e., temp watch, among the mothers/caregivers of low birth infants (LBW) and community health workers (ASHA workers) who visited them.Methods: Eligible LBW new-borns (<2500 grams) were recruited after written informed consent from parents and were followed-up for 28 days with intermittent visits from assigned ASHA workers. The parents recorded hypothermia episodes and KMC hours in a patient diary. Feedback was taken from these mothers and ASHA workers at the end of study.Results: The weight gain at 28th day of the recruited babies was significant (p=0.01) as compared to the weight at enrolment on day 0. Among the recruited population (n=50 LBW infants), 57% of the subjects reported the device alerted for hypothermia at least once a week. All the mothers of the recruited babies thought that the temp watch device was useful for hypothermia monitoring and the alerts helped in maintaining the baby’s temperature. All ASHA workers were satisfied with the device and reported a positive behavioral change in the mothers KMC hours at the end of the study.Conclusions: The temp watch was useful in hypothermia monitoring in LBW infants in a low resource home setting. The usability and acceptability of the device was tested in mothers and ASHA workers with positive feedbacks from both populations. This suggests a need for the intro-duction of the device as a community-based intervention for hypothermia monitoring in LBW infants.

Decreasing Hypothermia-Related Escalation of Care in Newborn Infants Using the BEMPU TempWatch: A Randomised Controlled Trial

“…Potential explanations for this benefit relate to the device's role in promoting improved parent-infant bonding. The increased rates of breastfeeding with TempWatch use may be through the device's benefit in promoting SSC [11,17], which has been shown to promote exclusive breastfeeding [18]. In our study, the rate of SSC while in hospital was slightly higher (though not statistically significant) in the TempWatch group (2.3 h/day) compared with the control group (2.0 h/day).…”

Acceptability and feasibility of the BEMPU TempWatch for hypothermia monitoring in neonatal care in Ghana: a qualitative study of clinicians’ perspectives

“…9 In addition to hypothermia detection, pilot studies in India suggest that the use of the bracelet could result in lower neonatal mortality risk, improve average daily weight gain, increase maternal confidence in caring for a newborn, facilitate adherence to kangaroo mother care (KMC), and reduce the perceived burden of caring for LBW and preterm infants. [10][11][12] Despite increasing interest in the widespread implementation and scale up the BEMPU TempWatch in low-resource settings, studies demonstrating the impact of the device on neonatal health outcomes have primarily been conducted in India. [9][10][11][12] Furthermore, these studies have not assessed health workers' willingness to adopt the device in clinical settings.…”

“…[10][11][12] Despite increasing interest in the widespread implementation and scale up the BEMPU TempWatch in low-resource settings, studies demonstrating the impact of the device on neonatal health outcomes have primarily been conducted in India. [9][10][11][12] Furthermore, these studies have not assessed health workers' willingness to adopt the device in clinical settings. There is limited knowledge about the potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of the bracelet in clinical settings where hypothermia is common.…”