Projects
This is a searchable directory of the projects that were supported under the Healthy Ageing Challenge. You can explore projects by keyword, Healthy Ageing theme, region and workstream.
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Development of an intelligent robotic knee device for older people with knee osteoarthritis
This project develops a knee device to support and monitor rehabilitation of individuals suffering from knee osteoarthritis. Users will wear the device during exercises and daily activities with the device providing muscle support to the individual but also real-time feedback on their progress to clinicians. This information will help to find the best treatment during rehabilitation, leading to better patient outcomes.
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Development of the WESTERN plan for promoting active ageing in care and retirement residencies
The WESTERN plan (Walking, Exercise, Snacking, Tai-chi, Edification, Relationships, Nutrition) aims to provide personalised plans to promote active ageing in adults living in care settings.
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Digital Nutritional Assessment (DNA) tool to identify malnutrition associated with functional decline and deteriorating health
Malnutrition (or insufficient nutrient intake) is a significant issue for older people in the UK, and is strongly associated with poorer quality of life, functional decline and deteriorating health. Over 35% of people in care homes are affected by malnutrition with risk increasing the longer someone lives in care with it taking as little as 2 days to become malnourished. This project will develop a tool to identify malnutrition and its risk through taking photographs to identify nutritional intake.
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Digital, interactive home exercise to aid the recovery of older adults with stroke
Recovery after stroke depends on participating in a structured exercise programme. However, older adults with stroke find it challenging to maintain an optimal level of physical activity. To encourage participation in physical activity, we aim to co-design an interactive resistance exercise solution for older stroke survivors with impairments in upper limbs. We will co-design it by testing accessible and affordable fitness equipment and will involve older adults with stroke to take part in this process.
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Disabled Living: Real Time Assessment Tool for Assistive Technology
Delivering a Mobile Occupational Therapy Assessment so that the right equipment can be provided to prevent falls and improve functional ability, helping to achieve a better quality of life and wellbeing as people age.
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Earswitch
EarMetrics sensors are novel sensors to be incorporated in standard hearing aids to provide hearing-aid users medical grade monitoring systems that doesn’t impact on their daily lives.
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ElderEye
Bioadaptive (circadian) lighting has a myriad of well-documented health benefits. This project aims to develop an ‘in-home’ remote bioadaptive lighting solution to bring the healthy benefits of circadian lights, whilst enhancing on best-in-class by integrating sensing technologies to determine disease progression and/or abnormal behaviour.
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Empowering Augmented Mobility of the Aging Population using Computational Musculoskeletal Simulation
The project will develop a computational simulation platform to evaluate elderly people walking with assistive robots and provide quantitative evidence for optimal designs and customized assistive strategies. The platform will simulate an elderly person walking with assistive robots in a virtual environment by translating aging population characteristics and real-world models of assistive robots into digital forms.
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Enabling older workers to maintain work in later life
Enabling older workers to maintain work in later life using an automated matching platform, using a ‘totally tailored technology’ approach, which connects customers looking for help with home chores, with a local, skilled workforce of over 50s.
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Encouraging accessible conversations using sound scene monitoring and IoT-based nudging
Older adults with hearing loss often find it hard to follow group conversations in social contexts, especially when there is loud background noise and reverberation. Not being able to engage leads many people to opt out all together, which can have devastating consequences for mental health and increases the risk of dementia. This project will prototype solutions that can detect when conversations are becoming difficult to follow and help the group to keep everyone engaged.
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Enhancing mobility of elderly stroke patients using sustainable solution
About 60% of UK stroke survivors are aged ≥65 years and have lower limb weakness with reduced mobility.
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Evaluating accountability platforms for care
Many developing countries have seen the expansion of private care for older adults in recent years. Often unregulated, care home sectors provide an uneven quality of care. Research by a University of East Anglia team and local partners in the Argentinian city of La Plata has formed the basis for a new online platform. This will provide valuable publicly available information about local care homes based on a set of quality principles and user feedback.
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Evaluating the Lifecurve approach
Research shows that if we keep up activity and exercise consistently from an early enough age, most of us can stay independent at home until the last few months of life. This project is developing Lifecurve, an app tracking the user’s ability to undertake 19 core daily activities. Scores are provided, activity and exercise goals set, encouragement given and data can be compared to others of a similar age. The app has the potential to have significant positive effects on activity levels.
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Exploring how to use mixed reality & telepresence technology to tackle loneliness and reduce feelings of social isolation
1.5 million people aged over 50 in the UK suffer from chronic loneliness. Using co-design workshops and low-fi prototypes, this project explores how mixed reality (MR) technology may help tackle loneliness, for example enabling us to gather remotely with friends and family across immersive virtual worlds.
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Exploring the feasibility of introducing a senior co-housing model to meet the future needs of older people
Exploring the feasibility of introducing a senior cohousing model to enhance their sense of wellbeing, reduce loneliness and isolation, maintain activity and engagement. Helping older people to stay healthier for longer and enjoy continued personal autonomy and independence.
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Extending active life for older people with cognitive impairment through innovations in the visitor economy of the natural environment (ENLIVEN)
Helping older people with cognitive impairment to be more active, independent and socially connected, experiencing a good quality of life through nature-based outdoor activities.
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Eyecatcher: Preventing avoidable blindness through smart home-monitoring of vision
Visual field loss is the primary symptom of glaucoma: a chronic, incurable eye condition that effects 2% of people aged over 40 years (and 10% of people over 75), and which is the 2nd leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Eyecatcher, developed by Irida Health, is an innovative new vision home-monitoring device. It allows glaucoma patients to assess their vision at home, and to automatically share the results with a clinician, via the internet.
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Flexible living to age in place
Well-designed homes that are adaptable and technology-enabled can help older people stay living independently longer within their community (i.e. to age in place). This partnership between Northumbria University and housing developers explores how adaptive building technologies and modern communication systems can be incorporated into both new-build and existing homes.
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Freebird Club
Freebird Club is developing a peer-to-peer social travel and homestay club for older adults, which enables and empowers members to travel, connect, meet, and stay with each other, as part of a trusted over 50s community.
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Generating Older Active Lives Digitally (GOALD)
This project, led by the University of Stirling in collaboration with the University of Plymouth’s Centre for Health Technology, aims to improve access to online resources for older people in a bid to enhance lifecourse health and well-being.
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GenInsole: A highly customised therapeutic insole for early diagnosis of diabetic foot ulcers
More than 738 million individuals will have diabetes by 2045, of which 15-34% of them are likely to develop diabetic foot ulcers. GenInsole provides an innovative solution through the design of a highly customised therapeutic insole. The customised insoles can enhance comfort and functionality through an effective foot plantar pressure redistribution.