Deployment of digital healthcare kiosks in the workplace: Utilisation and acceptability

Abstract

Introduction: Digital healthcare kiosks provide a convenient, user-friendly and empowering method of promoting self-care and enhancing individuals’ understanding of their health status. Previous areas of successful deployment include primary care (Lowe & Cummin, 2010) and sexual health clinics (Shaffi et al, 2014). This project explored the effectiveness of using kiosk-based technologies as an occupational health tool, evaluating the activity and acceptability of health kiosks amongst employees of a large, private sector organisation. Each kiosk was capable of recording or calculating body mass index, body fat composition, blood pressure, heart rate and cardiovascular risk. Six health kiosks were deployed across three facilities with a combined workforce of approximately 3000. Aims and objectives: The evaluation aimed not only to explore the level of usage across kiosks, but also to provide insight into user perceptions of efficacy, usefulness and acceptability. The project also sought to identify key drivers and barriers related to the uptake of kiosk technologies by employees. Results: During a five-month pilot period, the kiosks were used on a total of 4104 occasions by 2293 users. Based on a reporting time of 149 days, this represents an average of 4.6 uses per kiosk, per day. There was substantial variability in usage across different sites and kiosks (range 1.5-11.4 uses per day). Though this partly reflected different ratios of kiosks to employees at different sites, variations in kiosk placement may also have played a part. To gain an understanding of the user perspective on kiosk usage, employees were also prompted – through questions embedded in the kiosks - to share their experiences and views on the value of the deployment. Over three-quarters of first-time users graded the kiosk overall as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. 52% of respondents stated that they were ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to modify their lifestyle as a consequence of using the kiosks; 84% reported that they would continue to use the kiosks to monitor their health status. 20 employees participated in semi-structured interviews to gain a richer insight into their experiences. Feedback was generally positive, particularly in relation to the kiosks’ convenience and functionality. The main areas for development highlighted by users related to privacy and