Video-based patient records for supporting care delivery for older adults with frailty: the Isla for Frailty Feasibility Study

Introduction: Written documentation and verbal handovers can be ineffective at communicating the specifics of frail, older patients’ complex functional abilities and support needs. Video-recordings of individual patients may help to convey a patient’s condition in a more nuanced, objective way, potentially improving safety at care transitions. The Isla platform interfaces with electronic health record systems, allowing care providers to capture video-recordings during patient care. We evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, and potential effectiveness of video-based patient records (the Isla platform) for supporting the care of older frail inpatients within the acute hospital setting and at care transitions.

Method: Over a three-month pilot period, a non-randomised, mixed-methods feasibility study of video-based patient records (alongside usual care) was conducted within three elderly medicine wards of a large acute hospital in England. Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) was central to study design and implementation. Participant enrolment figures; semi-structured interview data; and video capture and view metrics were examined within an embedded process evaluation, appraising intervention acceptability amongst patients, carers, and ward staff; barriers and facilitators to intervention implementation; and perceived intervention impacts.

Results: The study enrolled 58 ward staff and 29 patients (56.9%); one patient withdrew. Enrolment figures and early interview analyses indicate apparent acceptability of video-based patient records to patients and carers. Intervention barriers (e.g. patient pain), facilitators (e.g. staff-patient rapport) and potential intervention impacts (e.g. improved person-centred care, team communication) were identified. Modal use-cases for video-recordings were to document patients’ transfers (n=16), mobility (n=13), and eating/drinking supports (n=3); however, view metrics suggested limited engagement with videos once captured.

Conclusion(s): Preliminary findings indicate the acceptability and feasibility of video-based patient records, although several implementation considerations warrant address. Perceived intervention impacts (e.g. improved person-centred care) were promising; although greater engagement with videos is a probable precondition to demonstrating efficacy in future research.