- Story
How to measure stress without stress
24.02.2025 A team of researchers at BFH are using a new analytical approach to measure stress without causing additional stress, thereby helping to combat staff shortages in the healthcare sector.
Key points at a glance
- BFH is researching whether it is possible to measure automatically the workload of health professionals in order to optimise staff planning.
- Improving working conditions in the healthcare sector has the potential to counter staff shortages.
- The primary challenges are technoscepticism and data protection.
Why is BFH conducting a research project on stress measurement for health professionals?
The BFH researchers want to use the project to alleviate the existing burden on healthcare staff. Specifically, they are conducting a pilot study to test the feasibility of measuring workload based on existing data – without requiring staff to perform additional work.
Their hope is that this will provide decision-makers with a tool that they can use to optimise staff planning.
Improving the working conditions of health professionals would have far-reaching consequences.
How does the project benefit society?
The ongoing shortage of staff, especially in the healthcare sector, is a matter of serious concern. Improving the working conditions of healthcare staff would have far-reaching consequences for staff, as it would help them improve their work-life balance and carry out their duties more effectively, and for patients, as stress-free nurses and doctors are able to deliver safer healthcare. However, information on workload is necessary to establish a basis for practical measures.
How do the researchers proceed to get this information?
They actually measure biometric stress indicators on nurses while they are working and inquire about their workload. By combining this information with follow-up documentation and shift planning data, they hope to be able to automatically recognise which signals indicate stress.
Their aim is to develop a method that can derive conclusions about the stress levels of specialists directly and automatically from the data. Since conflicts between private and professional schedules are a frequent cause of stress, the team is also examining the dynamics between these two aspects.
Healthcare professionals tend to be critical of new technologies in the workplace.
What is the main challenge associated with the project?
With their attempt to automate stress measurement, the researchers are breaking new ground. In the feasibility study, they are first checking whether biometric data can actually provide insights into stress indicators brought out by follow-up documentation and shift planning.
Since healthcare professionals tend to be critical of new technologies in the workplace, it can be a challenge to find enough test subjects. And of course – as always when sensitive data is involved – it is essential to ensure that its security is guaranteed at every stage of the project.
What are the next steps in the project?
If the automated stress measurement proves successful in the pilot phase, the researchers will confirm the approach with a larger test group and refine the method. Subsequently, and this is still a long way off, it will be used to develop concrete software tools for resource planning and personnel management in the healthcare sector.
Further info on the project and the BFH experts behind it
The pilot study on automated stress measurement in the care sector is conducted by Dr Souhir Ben Souissi and Dr Christoph Golz, who teach and carry out research at BFH.
At the School of Engineering and Computer Science, Dr Ben Souissi’s work is centred on the use of deep learning and artificial intelligence to aid decision making in healthcare.
For his part, Dr Golz focusses on identifying ways in which digital solutions can alleviate the workload for health professionals.
