£1.4m UKRI grant will help older people be more active with help of assistive tech
AI start-up Tendertec has won funding for an interesting £1.8 million project to encourage sustainable physical activity in older people through the use of helpful and engaging healthcare technologies.
The new digital fitness support service, known as FitBees, will combine Tendertec’s connected care platform (Hestia), home sensors, and wearable technologies with motivational encouragement and community connections to support activity. Hestia enables the remote monitoring of daily living activities of people with carers.
This innovative initiative has secured a grant of £1.4 million from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the Healthy Ageing Challenge.
The funding will be used to support the development of FitBees, which has a strong user-centred design process to ensure that FitBees meets the needs of clients.
According to a 2019 report from the Centre for Ageing Better, nearly one-third of people aged 65-74 are physically inactive, while over two-thirds of over-85s are physically inactive.
Tendertec stresses that inactivity is most acute across under-represented groups who are not engaging, physically or digitally, with a market that focuses more on those who are already motivated to be active.
Dr. Afroditi Konidari, CEO and Co-Founder of Tendertec, commented: “We appreciate the trust UK Research and Innovation has put into our project, and we are honoured to be leading a consortium of partners that have the skills, experience and dedication to help under-represented groups overcome challenges to becoming more physically active.
“In the post-pandemic era, we need to find new ways to support people aged 55+, especially those feeling marginalised, to become and remain physically active and socially connected. We are working closely with our consortium to bring a game changing product into the digital fitness market.”
UKRI’s Healthy Ageing Challenge supports the delivery of innovative projects that support healthy ageing in light of the UK’s ageing population.
George MacGinnis, Healthy Ageing Challenge Director at UK Research and Innovation, said: “Many of us are living for longer and want to make the most of the opportunities in later life, which can include continuing to work and volunteer. Despite this, the market for products and services which genuinely meet the needs of older people is underdeveloped.
“Innovators need a better understanding of the rich and varied lives people lead as they age, moving away from a utilitarian view of providing only what they think older people need. That is why a commitment to inclusive design is so important it provides an understanding of how people want to live their lives and what they would most like, to make the most of their time.”
Other partners in the project include learning disability charity Hft; technology-enabled care (TEC) provider Community Housing; University of the West of England; and KYMIRA, a company producing patented smart garments that provide biomechanical assessment of the lower extremities.
Another pioneering UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge project that recently secured funding is Smplicare. This leading-edge project has landed £750,000 to explore the use of commercially available wearable technologies, such as Fitbits and Garmins, to predict the risk of falls and other age-related health issues.
At the conclusion of the study, the start-up plans to launch its digital platform inspiring older people to better manage their own health for widespread use in 2023.