Caregivers’ Perceived Usefulness of an IoT-Based Smart Bed

Health facilities worldwide have been struggling for years with the low number of care personnel compared to the demand for assistance, even before the recent pandemic emergency. This problem has made the caregivers a category characterized by a high-workload job, with consequent risks of stress and burnout. In these cases, technology can often help people mitigate these issues, but only if it is accepted and perceived as useful by users. This study investigates caregivers’ perceived usefulness, a key factor of the Technology Acceptance, of an innovative IoT patient monitoring system, called smart-bed, able to provide valuable information about patients without being in contact with them. The study carries out a series of focus groups with employees from hospitals, elderly retirement homes and home-care assistance. Through a thematic analysis of the discussion topics that emerged, the reasons to perceive the IoT system useful are investigated and analyzed, together with caregivers desired functions and the possible limitations that these technologies could have if inserted in this context. In addition to providing an overview of these elements for this particular system, the results bring some reflections relevant to IoT in healthcare environments, therefore contributing to the design of future technologies that will take into account the wishes and needs of users.