Consumer wearable devices and disease prevention
Research has linked wearable devices with the prevention, detection and mitigation of disease. What are the public health benefits and what are the risks?

Demand for health and social care continues to rise in the UK as people are living longer and a greater proportion have multiple health conditions requiring long-term treatment or care (such as diabetes, heart disease or dementia). Integrating health and social care has been considered as a possible response to these demographic changes, with the potential benefits including improved patient experience, and better quality of care through increased coordination and efficiency. It has been argued that effective integration could result in reduced use of hospital beds, lower hospital admissions rates, shorter hospital stays, shorter recovery periods and lower readmission rates. However, evidence on the impact of integration is mixed, with evaluations variously showing positive, negative and no effects. Cost savings have also been cited as a potential benefit, although reviews have noted that the economic evidence is limited and contradictory.
Evaluating the integration of health and social care (693 KB , PDF)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.58248/PB35
A number of integration models are being piloted (POSTnote 532), which aim to reduce duplication of services, minimise delays for services, decrease demand for costly hospital care, and improve user experience (including better access to services, improvements in health and well-being and better self-management of conditions). Evaluating how well different models are meeting the aims outlined above is difficult for several reasons, including:
This POSTbrief provides a background on the history of integrating heath and social care in the UK and the current pressures faced by these two sectors. As healthcare and social care are devolved matters, the focus is predominantly on England and Wales. It then presents examples of some of the different models of integration currently being piloted. Next it outlines the measures frequently used to assess integration, before describing the challenges of large-scale evaluation.
Acknowledgements
POSTbriefs are responsive policy briefings from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. This POSTbrief is based on a literature review, interviews with external stakeholders and peer review. POST would like to thank interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including:
Professor Jenny Billings, University of Kent *
Professor Katherine Checkland, University of Manchester*
Martin Caunt, Improvement Analytics Unit, NHS England
Dr Mary-Alison Durand, Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit
Samantha Hinks, NHS England
Professor Nick Mays, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine*
Professor Judith Smith, University of Birmingham
Dr Adam Steventon, Health Foundation
Charles Tallack, Health Foundation
Deborah Rozansky, Social Care Institute for Excellence*
Nuffield Trust*
*denotes people and organisations who acted as external reviewers of the briefing
Evaluating the integration of health and social care (693 KB , PDF)
Research has linked wearable devices with the prevention, detection and mitigation of disease. What are the public health benefits and what are the risks?
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