Mitigating Violence Against Patients in a Mental Healthcare Setting Using Smart Technologies

The escalating global prevalence of mental health disorders, highlights the urgency of addressing challenges in the mental healthcare setting. Inadequate infrastructure magnifies the vulnerability of patients in these settings towards violence, e.g., mental, physical or sexual. Through comprehensive surveys and case studies, this paper introduces MANSIK, an integrated framework employing System Thinking Approach. This novel framework facilitates the development of a conceptual system comprising two key components: a) Mental Health and Violence matrix and b) Smart Technology Enabling matrix. To operationalise the framework (MANSIK), a smartphone application ‘mCareLink’ is developed. Moreover, sensor and AI-integrated smart spaces are designed to mitigate violence in mental healthcare by adopting the principles of transparency, accountability, and monitoring. This holistic approach addresses the complicated challenges of mental healthcare and patient safety.