[Dreaming of a psychomotrician in a medical-psychological emergency room]. / Rêver d'un psychomotricien en cellules d'urgence médico-psychologique.

The psychomotrician is a healthcare professional trained in mind-body approaches. They take into account sensoriality, motor skills, cognition, psyche and emotions in relation to the individual's environment and the expression of disorders. It  is an integral part of the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. For some years now, psychomotricians have been part of volunteer teams in medical-psychological emergency units, where they offer an integrative approach. Using the body and mediation as their working tools, they rely on non-verbal communication and body language to bring the patient back to the present moment within a reassuring framework.

The nonverbal expression of guilt in healthy adults.

Guilt is a negative emotion elicited by realizing one has caused actual or perceived harm to another person. One of guilt's primary functions is to signal that one is aware of the harm that was caused and regrets it, an indication that the harm will not be repeated. Verbal expressions of guilt are often deemed insufficient by observers when not accompanied by nonverbal signals such as facial expression, gesture, posture, or gaze. Some research has investigated isolated nonverbal expressions in guilt, however none to date has explored multiple nonverbal channels simultaneously. This study explored facial expression, gesture, posture, and gaze during the real-time experience of guilt when response demands are minimal. Healthy adults completed a novel task involving watching videos designed to elicit guilt, as well as comparison emotions. During the video task, participants were continuously recorded to capture nonverbal behaviour, which was then analyzed via automated facial expression software. We found that while feeling guilt, individuals engaged less in several nonverbal behaviours than they did while experiencing the comparison emotions. This may reflect the highly social aspect of guilt, suggesting that an audience is required to prompt a guilt display, or may suggest that guilt does not have clear nonverbal correlates.

"They must have seen it, you know." Body talk, extension talk, and action talk: A qualitative study on how palliative care patients and their significant others express experiencing these nonverbal cues.

Communication about life-threatening disease and palliative care is essential but often experienced as difficult by those concerned and has mainly been studied in terms of its verbal components. Despite the fundamentality of nonverbal communication, its dimensions in care, especially in the communication by patients and their significant others, has not been as extensively examined. Drawing on a secondary qualitative content analysis of data from 23 interviews-15 with patients in specialized palliative home care in Sweden and 8 with their significant others-this study aims at understanding and characterizing how patients verbally express experiences of conveying nonverbal cues about life-threatening disease and its consequences and how their significant others express perceiving these cues. Patients expressed experiences of nonverbal communication in the form of cues conveying meaning about their disease and its consequences, often beyond their control. Whether and how the patients reinforced these cues verbally, depended on individual needs, care for others, and evaluations of relationships. Significant others acknowledged the presence of nonverbal cues and tried to interpret their meaning. Both patients and significant others emphasized the importance of nonverbal cues and actively related to how cues in the form of bodily appearance, aids, objects and acts, serve communicative functions about disease and its consequences. These dimensions of nonverbal communication are characterized as: body talk, extension talk and action talk. This study contributes to an international knowledge base on the complexities of nonverbal communicative aspects in these dimensions and how it affects patients and significant others. Professionals should be aware that dimensions of care, such as prescribed aids, from the patients' perspective can be perceived as nonverbal cues that might "speak of" disease progression.

Influence of autistic traits and communication role on eye contact behavior during face-to-face interaction.

Eye contact is a central component in face-to-face interactions. It is important in structuring communicative exchanges and offers critical insights into others' interests and intentions. To better understand eye contact in face-to-face interactions, we applied a novel, non-intrusive deep-learning-based dual-camera system and investigated associations between eye contact and autistic traits as well as self-reported eye contact discomfort during a referential communication task, where participants and the experimenter had to guess, in turn, a word known by the other individual. Corroborating previous research, we found that participants' eye gaze and mutual eye contact were inversely related to autistic traits. In addition, our findings revealed different behaviors depending on the role in the dyad: listening and guessing were associated with increased eye contact compared with describing words. In the listening and guessing condition, only a subgroup who reported eye contact discomfort had a lower amount of eye gaze and eye contact. When describing words, higher autistic traits were associated with reduced eye gaze and eye contact. Our data indicate that eye contact is inversely associated with autistic traits when describing words, and that eye gaze is modulated by the communicative role in a conversation.

Impaired recognition of interactive intentions in adults with autism spectrum disorder not attributable to differences in visual attention or coordination via eye contact and joint attention.

Altered nonverbal communication patterns especially with regard to gaze interactions are commonly reported for persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study we investigate and differentiate for the first time the interplay of attention allocation, the establishment of shared focus (eye contact and joint attention) and the recognition of intentions in gaze interactions in adults with ASD compared to control persons. Participants interacted via gaze with a virtual character (VC), who they believed was controlled by another person. Participants were instructed to ascertain whether their partner was trying to interact with them. In fact, the VC was fully algorithm-controlled and showed either interactive or non-interactive gaze behavior. Participants with ASD were specifically impaired in ascertaining whether their partner was trying to interact with them or not as compared to participants without ASD whereas neither the allocation of attention nor the ability to establish a shared focus were affected. Thus, perception and production of gaze cues seem preserved while the evaluation of gaze cues appeared to be impaired. An additional exploratory analysis suggests that especially the interpretation of contingencies between the interactants' actions are altered in ASD and should be investigated more closely.

Differential Evaluation of Straight and Gay Men for Nonverbal Effeminate Behavior.

The purpose of this study was to determine how violation of gender-based expectancies might influence straight men's attitudes toward men who differ by sexual orientation (i.e., straight or gay). This study was specifically designed to avoid methodological issues that may have been present in similar research. Hypotheses were informed by Expectancy-Violation Theory (EVT) and the Black Sheep Effect (BSE), which together suggest that an effeminate straight man should be evaluated by other straight men more negatively than an effeminate gay man because the former target negatively violated expectations. Additionally, EVT suggests that a masculine gay man should be evaluated more positively than a masculine straight man because the former positively violates expectations, while the BSE instead suggests the latter should be evaluated more positively than the former due to ingroup bias. Self-identified straight men evaluated a male target whose sexual orientation and gender conformity were manipulated through a photo and vignette. A moderated mediation analysis was performed to determine if perceived expectancy violation mediated the relationship between sexual orientation and evaluations for both effeminate and masculine men. Straight effeminate targets were evaluated more negatively than gay effeminate targets; however, straight masculine targets were evaluated more favorably than gay masculine targets, a finding more consistent with the BSE. In addition, perceived expectancy violation did not mediate the relationship between sexual orientation and evaluations regardless of gender expression. More research should be conducted to identify the mechanisms through which evaluations of straight and gay targets differ based on gender expression.

Support vector machine prediction of individual Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) scores based on neural responses during live eye-to-eye contact.

Social difficulties during interactions with others are central to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding the links between these social difficulties and their underlying neural processes is a primary aim focused on improved diagnosis and treatment. In keeping with this goal, we have developed a multivariate classification method based on neural data acquired by functional near infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS, during live eye-to-eye contact with adults who were either typically developed (TD) or individuals with ASD. The ASD diagnosis was based on the gold-standard Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) which also provides an index of symptom severity. Using a nested cross-validation method, a support vector machine (SVM) was trained to discriminate between ASD and TD groups based on the neural responses during eye-to-eye contact. ADOS scores were not applied in the classification training. To test the hypothesis that SVM identifies neural activity patterns related to one of the neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral symptoms of ASD, we determined the correlation coefficient between the SVM scores and the individual ADOS scores. Consistent with the hypothesis, the correlation between observed and predicted ADOS scores was 0.72 (p < 0.002). Findings suggest that multivariate classification methods combined with the live interaction paradigm of eye-to-eye contact provide a promising approach to link neural processes and social difficulties in individuals with ASD.

Patterns of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication During Sex.

Sexual communication functions as an important relational process expediating satisfying sexual experiences (Sprecher & Hendrick, 2004). Much of the existing literature on sexual communication concerning sexual pleasure biases verbal communication (Babin, 2012). This study adds to the existing research regarding patterns of communication surrounding sex and during sex through qualitative analysis. Further, this inquiry focused on participants' full histories, rather than their tendencies within any current relationship. We analyzed 78 qualitative interview transcripts from participants between the ages of 18 and 69. Participants reported a reluctance to communicate anything but pleasure, discomfort, or dislike during sex to avoid discouraging their partners. Though participants reported a perception that communicating pleasure served as encouragement and affirmation to their partners, most preferred to communicate pleasure nonverbally. Some participants reported a tendency to communicate pain or dislike verbally. Some preferred communication about sexual topics only before or after sexual activities. Participants shared that a high level of comfort with their partner increased sexual communication. How sexual partners communicate sex not only affects pleasure but can only affect intimacy between partners and health. This adds to the scant literature on nonverbal communication during sex and some people's preference for that style (Blunt-Vinti et al., 2019).

Improving counseling effectiveness with virtual counselors through nonverbal compassion involving eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding.

An effective way to reduce emotional distress is by sharing negative emotions with others. This is why counseling with a virtual counselor is an emerging methodology, where the sharer can consult freely anytime and anywhere without having to fear being judged. To improve counseling effectiveness, most studies so far have focused on designing verbal compassion for virtual counselors. However, recent studies showed that virtual counselors' nonverbal compassion through eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding also have significant impact on the overall counseling experience. To verify this, we designed the virtual counselor's nonverbal compassion and examined its effects on counseling effectiveness (i.e., reduce the intensity of anger and improve general affect). A total of 40 participants were recruited from the university community. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of two virtual counselor conditions: a neutral virtual counselor condition without nonverbal compassion and a compassionate virtual counselor condition with nonverbal compassion (i.e., eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding). Participants shared their anger-inducing episodes with the virtual counselor for an average of 16.30 min. Note that the virtual counselor was operated by the Wizard-of-Oz method without actually being technically implemented. Results showed that counseling with a compassionate virtual counselor reduced the intensity of anger significantly more than counseling with a neutral virtual counselor (F(1, 37) = 30.822, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.454). In addition, participants who counseled with a compassionate virtual counselor responded that they experienced higher empathy than those who counseled with a neutral virtual counselor (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that nonverbal compassion through eye contact, facial mimicry, and head-nodding of the virtual counselor makes the participants feel more empathy, which contributes to improving the counseling effectiveness by reducing the intensity of anger.

The Role of Coherent Robot Behavior and Embodiment in Emotion Perception and Recognition During Human-Robot Interaction: Experimental Study.

BACKGROUND: Social robots are becoming increasingly important as companions in our daily lives. Consequently, humans expect to interact with them using the same mental models applied to human-human interactions, including the use of cospeech gestures. Research efforts have been devoted to understanding users' needs and developing robot's behavioral models that can perceive the user state and properly plan a reaction. Despite the efforts made, some challenges regarding the effect of robot embodiment and behavior in the perception of emotions remain open. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is dual. First, it aims to assess the role of the robot's cospeech gestures and embodiment in the user's perceived emotions in terms of valence (stimulus pleasantness), arousal (intensity of evoked emotion), and dominance (degree of control exerted by the stimulus). Second, it aims to evaluate the robot's accuracy in identifying positive, negative, and neutral emotions displayed by interacting humans using 3 supervised machine learning algorithms: support vector machine, random forest, and K-nearest neighbor. METHODS: Pepper robot was used to elicit the 3 emotions in humans using a set of 60 images retrieved from a standardized database. In particular, 2 experimental conditions for emotion elicitation were performed with Pepper robot: with a static behavior or with a robot that expresses coherent (COH) cospeech behavior. Furthermore, to evaluate the role of the robot embodiment, the third elicitation was performed by asking the participant to interact with a PC, where a graphical interface showed the same images. Each participant was requested to undergo only 1 of the 3 experimental conditions. RESULTS: A total of 60 participants were recruited for this study, 20 for each experimental condition for a total of 3600 interactions. The results showed significant differences (P<.05) in valence, arousal, and dominance when stimulated with the Pepper robot behaving COH with respect to the PC condition, thus underlying the importance of the robot's nonverbal communication and embodiment. A higher valence score was obtained for the elicitation of the robot (COH and robot with static behavior) with respect to the PC. For emotion recognition, the K-nearest neighbor classifiers achieved the best accuracy results. In particular, the COH modality achieved the highest level of accuracy (0.97) when compared with the static behavior and PC elicitations (0.88 and 0.94, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the use of multimodal communication channels, such as cospeech and visual channels, as in the COH modality, may improve the recognition accuracy of the user's emotional state and can reinforce the perceived emotion. Future studies should investigate the effect of age, culture, and cognitive profile on the emotion perception and recognition going beyond the limitation of this work.

Pragmatic features in patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder. Despite the fact that communication and language skills may be impaired in schizophrenia, only a few studies have examined specific aspects of pragmatic competence in these patients. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the pragmatic skills of schizophrenic patients and a control group. Forty-three schizophrenic patients with a Mean ± SD age of 40 ± 1.21 years old and a control group were assessed using the Adult Pragmatics Profile (APP), which is a validated tool consisting of three scales: verbal, nonverbal and paralinguistic. The participants in the schizophrenia group demonstrated significant impairments in pragmatic abilities compared to the participants in those the control group. The most remarkable difference was in the nonverbal scale (5.00 ± 1.09), while the lowest difference was seen in the verbal scale (18.30 ± 3.91). Within the nonverbal subscales, eye contact was the most impaired. Schizophrenic patients presented with impairments in their pragmatic skills (verbal, nonverbal and paralinguistic). As pragmatic skills play a paramount role in social communication, it is of great significance to address these impairments to enhance patients' quality of life.

Pragmatic deficits are a core feature in schizophrenic patients.Schizophrenic patients had the lowest scores on the nonverbal scale, and they showed the lowest impairment on the verbal scale.Schizophrenic patients scored the lowest on the turn-taking subscale of the verbal scale, the eye contact of the non-verbal scale and the vocal intensity subscale of the paralinguistic scale of the APP.

"Reading" the room: healthcare chaplains' challenges, insights and variations in entering rooms and engaging with patients and families.

Recent research has described broad types of healthcare chaplains' activities, but many questions remain about how these professionals perform these tasks, whether variations occur, and if so, in what ways. Twenty-three chaplains were interviewed in-depth. Chaplains described engaging in highly dynamic processes, involving both verbal and non-verbal interactions. They face challenges and vary in ways of starting interactions, using verbal and non-verbal cues, and communicating through physical appearance. In these processes, when entering patients' rooms, they seek to "read the room," follow patients' leads, look for cues, match the energy/mood in the room, and adjust their body language appropriately, while maintaining open-ended stances. They face choices of what, if anything, to communicate through clothing (e.g., wearing clerical collars or crosses) and can confront additional challenges with members of groups different than their own, at times requiring further sensitivity. These data, the first to examine challenges chaplains confront entering patients' rooms and engaging in non-verbal communication, can enhance understandings of these issues, and help chaplains and other healthcare professionals provide more sensitive and astute context-based care. These findings thus have critical implications for education, practice, and research concerning chaplains and other providers.

Entre paradas e movimentos: uma revisão teórica a respeito do silêncio em psicanálise / Between stops and movements: a theoretical review of silence in psychoanalysis / Entre arrêts et mouvements: une revue littéraire du silence en psychanalyse / Entre paradas y movimientos: una revisión teórica sobre el silencio en el psicoanálisis

Em um contexto clínico, existem diversos tipos de silêncio, próprios de cada análise e presentes de diferentes formas no processo analítico. Este artigo visa realizar uma revisão teórica a respeito do silêncio na literatura psicanalítica. Pretende, também, transitar por reflexões existentes na psicanálise acerca de um silêncio específico: silêncio com potência de movimento e função criadora no processo de análise. A partir da revisão realizada, percebe-se que o silêncio na clínica psicanalítica pode ser pensado a partir do silêncio do paciente, do analista ou em seu aspecto intersubjetivo, ou seja, relacional. A revisão da palavra "silêncio" na obra freudiana abre espaço para pensar a presença intrínseca, porém, coadjuvante, do silêncio na psicanálise desde suas origens. A pesquisa também possibilita ampliar o entendimento do silêncio para além de seu aspecto resistencial. Ilumina os aspectos produtivos e potentes desse conceito em psicanálise e no trabalho analítico

Silence presents many forms within a clinical context, specific to each case and presenting in different ways during the analytical process. This theoretical review of the psychoanalytic literature on silence seeks to push forward psychoanalysis reflections about silence imbued with the power of movement and a creative function. Silence in clinical psychoanalysis can be considered from the perspective of the patient, the analyst, or the relationship, i.e., its intersubjective aspect. A review of the word "silence" within Freud's work allows us to reflect on the intrinsic but supporting presence of silence in psychoanalysis since its origins , expanding the understanding of silence beyond resistance. It clarifies the productive and potent aspects of this concept in psychoanalysis and the analytical process

Le silence se présente sous de nombreuses formes dans un contexte clinique, spécifique à chaque cas et se manifestant de différentes manières au cours du processus analytique. Cette revue théorique de la littérature psychanalytique sur le silence cherche à parcourir les réflexions existantes en psychanalyse sur le silence doté de puissance de mouvement et de fonction créatrice. Le silence dans la clinique psychanalytique peut être conçu du point de vue du patient, de l'analyste ou de son aspect inter-subjectif, c'est-à-dire relationnel. Un examen du mot silence chez Freud nous permet de réfléchir à la présence intrinsèque, bien que secondaire, du silence au sein de la psychanalyse depuis ses origines, en élargissant la compréhension du silence au-delà de la résistance. Elle met également en évidence les aspects productifs et puissants du concept de silence en psychanalyse et dans le travail analytique

En un contexto clínico, existen varios tipos de silencio, específicos para cada análisis y presentes de diferentes maneras en el proceso analítico. Este artículo se propone realizar una revisión teórica sobre el silencio en la literatura psicoanalítica. También tiene como objetivo avanzar a través de las reflexiones existentes en el psicoanálisis sobre un silencio específico: el silencio con el poder del movimiento y la función creativa en el trabajo de análisis. De la revisión realizada, queda claro que el silencio en la clínica psicoanalítica puede pensarse desde el silencio del paciente, el analista o en su aspecto intersubjetivo, es decir, relacional. La revisión de la palabra silencio dentro del trabajo freudiano llevado a cabo en la investigación abre el espacio para pensar sobre la presencia intrínseca, pero de apoyo, del silencio dentro del psicoanálisis desde sus orígenes. La investigación también permite ampliar la comprensión del silencio más allá de su aspecto resistivo. Ilumina los aspectos productivos y potentes de este concepto en el psicoanálisis y el trabajo analítico

Comunicação não verbal com pacientes incapazes de se expressar verbalmente em terapia intensiva1 / Non-verbal communication with patients unable to express yourself verbally in intensive care

Introdução: A internação em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva requer muitas vezes a necessidade de ventilação mecânica do paciente por meio de intubação orotraqueal, dificultando a comunicação com os profissionais de enfermagem, sendo necessário, nessas situações, a utilização de meios de comunicação não-verbais, representados através de gestos corporais e expressões faciais. Objetivos: Verificar se a equipe de enfermagem de Terapia Intensiva se comunica adequadamente com o paciente incapaz de se expressar verbalmente, se acredita na sua necessidade e quais as situações e formas de comunicação não verbal utilizadas. Método: Estudo transversal, abordagem quantitativa e delineamento descritivo, com correlação entre as variáveis, no qual participaram 187 (84,2%) profissionais de três unidades de terapia intensiva de um hospital de ensino, no período de agosto de 2021 a janeiro de 2022, por meio de um questionário estruturado. Para a análise estatística foi utilizado o Teste de Kolmogorov Smirnov e após, aplicados os Testes de Kruskal-Wallis e o Qui-quadrado Clássico. Resultados: A maioria realiza e acredita que a comunicação não verbal auxilia na assistência e na melhora do paciente e que é um direito informar e participar sobre cuidado e tratamento. Identificou-se o uso da lousa mágica, cartões ilustrativos com letras do alfabeto e figuras das principais necessidades ou solicitações, utilizados especialmente durante a execução de procedimentos de enfermagem, durante a passagem de plantão, na visita da família e quando o paciente se encontra agitado, durante o processo de extubação orotraqueal, desmame de drogas sedoanalgésicas e ventilação mecânica ou quando precisa de conforto emocional. Conclusão: Constatou-se a utilização e crença na comunicação não verbal, de acordo com o preconizado pelo programa nacional de humanização, corroborando com a meta internacional de segurança relacionada à comunicação efetiva na assistência, servindo de referência para outros profissionais que atuam com pacientes incapazes de se expressar verbalmente

Introduction: Admission to an Intensive Care Unit often requires mechanical ventilation of the patient through orotracheal intubation, making communication with nursing professionals difficult, making it necessary, in these situations, to use non-verbal means of communication, represented through body gestures and facial expressions. Objectives: Verify whether the Intensive Care nursing team communicates adequately with patients unable to express themselves verbally, whether they believe in their need and what situations and forms of non-verbal communication are used. Method: Crosssectional study, quantitative approach and descriptive design, with correlation between variables, in with 187 (84.2%) professionals from three intensive care units of a teaching hospital, from August 2021 to January 2022, through a questionnaire. For statistical analysis, the Kolmogorov Smirnov Test was used and afterwards, the Kruskal-Wallis and the Classical Chi-square tests were applied. Results: Most perform and believe that non-verbal communication helps in patient care and improvement and that it is a right to be informed and participate in their care and treatment. It was identified the use of the magic board, illustrative cards with letters of the alphabet and figures of the main needs or requests, used especially during the execution of nursing procedures, during the shift change, in the family visit and when the patient is agitated during the process of orotracheal extubation, weaning from sedative-analgesic drugs and mechanical ventilation or when you need emotional comfort. Conclusion: It was found the use and belief in non-verbal communication, as recommended by the national humanization program, serving as a reference for other professionals who work with incapable patients to express themselves verbally

Introducción: El ingreso a una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos requiere muchas veces ventilación mecánica del paciente mediante intubación orotraqueal, dificultando la comunicación con los profesionales de enfermería, siendo necesario, en estas situaciones, el uso de medios de comunicación no verbal, representados a través de gestos corporales y expresiones faciales. Objetivos: Verificar si el equipo de enfermería de Cuidados Intensivos se comunica adecuadamente con los pacientes que no pueden expresarse verbalmente, si creen en su necesidad y qué situaciones y formas de comunicación no verbal utilizan. Método: Estudio transversal, abordaje cuantitativo, diseño descriptivo, con correlación entre variables, con la participación de 187 (84,2%) profesionales de tres unidades de cuidados intensivos de un hospital universitario, desde agosto de 2021 hasta enero de 2022, a través de un cuestionario. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó la prueba de Kolmogorov Smirnov, seguida de la prueba de Kruskal-Wallis y la prueba clásica de chi-cuadrado. Resultados: La mayoría de ellos cree que la comunicación no verbal ayuda en el cuidado y mejoría del paciente y que es un derecho estar informado y participar en su cuidado y tratamiento. Se identificó el uso de la pizarra mágica, tarjetas ilustrativas con letras del alfabeto e imágenes de las principales necesidades o solicitudes, utilizadas especialmente durante la ejecución de procedimientos de enfermería, durante el cambio de turno, durante la visita de la familia y cuando el paciente se encuentra agitado, durante el proceso de extubación orotraqueal, el destete de los fármacos sedantesanalgésicos y la ventilación mecánica, o cuando se necesita consuelo emocional. Conclusión: Se verificó el uso y la creencia en la comunicación no verbal, de acuerdo con las recomendaciones del programa nacional de humanización, corroborando el objetivo internacional de seguridad relacionado a la comunicación efectiva en la atención, sirviendo de referencia para otros profesionales que trabajan con pacientes incapaces de expresarse verbalmente

Evaluating the efficacy of a digital App to enhance patient-centred nursing handover: A simulation study.

AIM: The study aim was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a digital App developed to enhance patient communication with nurses during bedside nursing handover at shift change. METHODS: Six nurses and 11 patient actors/volunteers participated in 12 simulated nursing handovers across six simulation workshops. Over half the patients were aged 70+ years (55%); majority were female (82%). Handover video recordings were analysed using a structured observation tool and a revised Four Habits Coding Scheme to assess nurses' handover communication skills. Patient and nurse feedback was also sought. The STROBE checklist (Data S1) guided preparation of the study. RESULTS: For all simulated handovers (n = 12): Nurses greeted the patient at commencement; nurses made eye contact with the patient; patients were given opportunity to ask questions; and all patient questions were answered. Nurses explained the handover process for less than half the handovers (42%). Familiarity with the patient's history was evident in every handover. Communication behaviours identified in most handovers included: good nonverbal behaviour; allowing time for the patient to absorb information; giving clear explanations; involving the patient in decisions; and exploring acceptability of the care plan. Patient and nurse feedback on the App included: The App was easy to navigate, features were well-liked, with some improvements suggested. CONCLUSION: Patients and nurses provided positive feedback for the App during hospital stay and at handover. The App has the potential to enhance existing handover processes and increase safety of hospital care by using technology to educate and empower patients/carers to be active partners in communication with nurses during change-of-shift handover. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The App empowers and enables patients/carers to actively participate in nursing handover and allows patients to communicate concerns and provide information to their nursing team, facilitating a new approach. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Patients and carers were involved in the research from the original co-design workshops that guided the development of the handover App. The research aims and outcome measures were informed by the experiences and preferences of patients/carers. Two patient representatives were involved in writing and submission of the grant application for the study to evaluate the efficacy of the App and were listed as co-authors on this paper. Patient volunteers were involved in the current study to pilot test the handover App. Patient volunteers were recruited through a consumer representative and volunteer registry at the health service. They participated in simulated nursing handovers with two nurses to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the handover App and then provided feedback and suggestions for improvement.