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Eureka healthy ageing call - project partners sought for testing of Virtual Smart Community platform development concepts.

Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Reference Number: RDUK20200708001
Publication Date: 9 July 2020

Summary

A UK based SME specialised in strategic resource mapping technology and consultancy seeks industry partners for a EUREKA Healthy Aging project proposal to develop a Virtual Smart Community platform for elderly people living independently and/or acting as key carer for a partner/family member. Partners with experience of digital solutions in healthcare/wellness community environments including under COVID-19 restrictions will be required to test the platform concepts.

Description

The UK SME is working with existing partners on a proposal for the development of a Virtual Smart Community platform for submission under the Eureka call “Development of digital health tools and smart devices to promote healthy ageing”.



The Virtual Smart Community is in the design phase for elderly people living independently and/or acting as a key carer for a partner/family member.



During COVID-19 maintaining social connectedness is vital. Councils and agencies have moved services to digital solutions to interact with clients. Initial feedback is very promising and many community activities have kept going. Elderly clients state that having a digital option has reduced stress factors.



The company aim to scale and professionalise their current on-line offering into an enhanced digital solution with AI (artificial intelligence) for learning that can integrate with face-to-face services.



The need for this solution has been brought to the forefront after the COVID-19 lock-down in the UK and other countries. Support agencies have found themselves reliant on rudimentary digital delivery solutions to support their clients who, due to their age/health, needed to isolate. Many of these elderly people were already considered vulnerable pre-COVID-19.



Initial feedback from clients being offered the digital delivery solutions has been very positive and show the recognition that the benefit surpasses lock-down conditions. Many clients identified that being able to have a digital solution took away the stress of having to organise leaving the house. Another benefit was being able to access the service when time was convenient.



This project aims to scale the current on-line offering into an enhanced digital solution, and through the use of AI technologies developing the dynamics to build a Smart Community.



Overall Objectives:

1. Expand the platform with AI capability to aid social prescribing, planning of services and individual support programming and scheduling features.

2. Map needs of clients to access the platform. 

3. Map clients to the services they require. 

4. Design new material and transform existing successful Health & Wellbeing Workshops.



Although technology innovation is a key aspect of the solution, as carers, elderly and vulnerable people in society are being supported, a comprehensive support programme will be implemented, and this must be designed for maximum effectiveness and efficiency for the community. This support will include monitoring attendance and progress, seeking feedback on how people are coping with their own wellbeing needs and those of the cared-for person; undertaking surveys with messaging features and analytics enabling correlation of viewing trends for carer requirements. These are features built into the platform and will enable the assessment of any changing needs and determining ways to address such needs before becoming critical.



Current project partners in UK Health & Care have a wealth of content to support the creation of digital collateral. Company staff are highly experienced and can support target audience capability analysis. Where necessary the company provide expertise in the fields of digital user experience, digital solution architecture and user data analysis and support the specialists in the design, development and delivery of the services.



Specific support requirements are:

1. Create and run test scenarios

2. Create the mapping of clients to services

3. Test the take up of service organisations and their participation

4. Test automated decision tools

5. Evaluate and ensure compliance with privacy legislation

6. Validate FAQs, training material

7. Run small manageable pilots

8. Run workshops and events

9. Support design of evaluation and measuring methodologies



The company are seeking additional partners to join the project consortium to test their Virtual Smart Community concepts.



Deadline for EOI: 29-Jul-20

Deadline for call: 05-Aug-20

Advantages and Innovations

Innovation Aspects:

The Virtual Smart Community platform will incorporate existing data and computing into an innovative service model. This will allow some of the great transformational ideas to be applied and take hold within the mainstream service programme. 



The approach to build a Virtual Smart Community is born out of Sir Patrick Geddes’ approach to the ‘Smart City’ and communities. He believed in laying a set of principles that might guide choices for a broad array of actors building in a more vernacular style, rather than master planning them.



The design of the Virtual Smart Community builds on the company’s existing innovative platform and combines this with an in-house developed methodology and software for tracking dynamic networks of supply and demand. The platform and associated methodology is already being successfully used in other industries and its evolution is now addressing AI concepts. 



Key to the success of this project will be:

1. Relationships with key organisations with a specific focus of ensuring Healthy Ageing. 

2. Taking onboard the needs of clients. 



Economic advantages:

The platform will offer great economies of scope and scale. Digital solutions allows interaction with a larger audience from a wider geographical area. During COVID-19 this is operation critical, however the objective is to professionalise and grow this service.



Intended Benefits to improve Healthy Ageing:

Social distancing, although a major strategy to fight COVID‐19, is also a major cause of loneliness for the elderly, which is an independent risk factor for depression and anxiety disorders.



Solution benefits:

- In-house social connectedness (groups & counselling)

- Digital link to face-to-face events

- On-line professional visual information & news (avoiding complex language and explained in appropriate terms).

Stage Of Development

Prototype available for demonstration

Stage Of Development Comment

The platform in its current guise has been deployed with a global Health Care provider in the US. This emphasis is to provide core understanding of the mapping between current and future products and service, and the micro skills needed to support current, tactical and strategic planning. The company know the methodology is sound and is now developing the next phase of the project to incorporate AI technology and refinements to the systems, and adding enhancements to support a broader healthcare remit.



The existing system is available for demonstration. The prototype employing AI and targeting Healthcare and Wellbeing is also available for demonstration and is currently in a state of development.

Requested partner

Industry partners with experience of digital solutions operating in healthcare and wellness community environments are sought to test and validate the Virtual Smart Community solution concepts designed for elderly people who are living independently and/or acting as a key carer for a partner/family member.



Prospective partners need to be from the following countries to be eligible to join the consortium for this Eureka call: Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain, or Turkey.

Dissemination Countries

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Turkey