Improving the quality of life for psychiatric patients, while increasing staff safety with QUMEA

Challenge: Helsinki: How can patient well-being and monitoring be improved?

Target Group: Psychiatric Patients

This pilot focused on evaluating the application of radar-based monitoring to support patient safety and care quality in a psychiatric setting. QUMEA AB implemented a system that enabled passive, contactless monitoring of Ohkola hospital patients within their rooms and beds. The system was designed to trigger automated alerts in response to specific patterns of movement or inactivity.

The initial deployment included a limited feature set, which was gradually expanded to incorporate features such as: bed occupancy monitoring, bed exit and get-up alerts,. fall detection, room exit alerts, in-bed activity tracking, in-room activity tracking, immobility detection, room presence detection, and incident logging.

The primary objective was to assess the relevance and performance of each feature in the clinical environment and to identify areas for refinement. Through weekly meetings with the HUS Ohkola hospital staff and four patients, the evaluation helped determine which functionalities provided actionable insights for staff and which required adjustment to better suit the context.

A key outcome of the pilot was the identification of opportunities to combine existing features into an integrated behavioural tracking function. This combined metric has the potential to provide staff with a clearer picture of individual patient patterns, aiding in clinical decision-making and risk management. The findings support the feasibility of using radar technology to supplement existing care processes in a way that may enhance patient safety and staff responsiveness.