Vibro-haptic feedback to improve posture at point of care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Point of care feasibility study for the use of Vertebrate in clinical practice to improve posture in nurses.
IRAS ID
154551
Contact name
Sarahjane Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham City University, Faculty of Health
Research summary
Manual handling is accountable for a significant amount of musculoskeletal disease (MSD) and absence from work. The significance of manual handling is indicated by the legislation that is in place to ensure employers provide the safest possible system for its employees to work within such as the Manual Handling Operations regulations 1992. Furthermore, manual handling training is a legal requirement when risk assessment identifies it as necessary, as is the case in the healthcare sector. A recognised risk factor for MSD is poor posture, which manual handling training aims to create an awareness of.
Vertebrate has been developed to aid in manual handling training and improve posture. It is worn using a harness with three sensors and vibrating units placed at the head, mid-spine and lower spine. The sensors measure the position of the spine, and when the wearer breaches postural norm of either 15 degrees forward or 10 degrees backward, the vibrating units activate to inform the wearer of the breach. Preliminary evidence suggests that the use of Vertebrate in manual handling training, improves the posture of student nurses for up to 12 months. Vertebrate is predicated on the concept that informing the wearing of their poor posture using vibration will encourage the wearer to return to postural norm. The use of Vertebrate during clinical practice (on nurses) could potentially remove the need for class room based training. This project will conduct a small ethnographic study to understand the feasibility of using Vertebrate during clinical practice.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
14/NS/1021
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion