It started with a fall

It started with a fall.

I believe in showing one’s reasons for going in a specific direction with business and professional life. It helps bring context.?

When this applies to something personal, some call it passion, some say it’s a calling. For me, it’s simply personal and something I want to dedicate some time to.

13 years ago my mum, while visiting us, fell at my front door. Until then she was reasonably healthy. We now know that this was the start of what a few years later became a diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia. Many of my network know that what followed was a story of slow decline that ended up in her passing away last September.??

This journey for my mum, myself, family and friends was truly harrowing. However, this type of story is more common than you think. In a number of situations, a fall will lead to further consequences and what will be equally tough stories for those involved.

A staggering fact is that one in three people over 65 will fall this year, costing the NHS ￡4.4 bn. I find this statistic not just interesting but somewhat scary.?

Additionally, falls frequently accelerate a loss of independence. Individuals certainly need better tools and technology to help them self-manage their personal health and maintain their independence as they age. This is where my belief in technology, specifically AI comes in.?

As a result, I recently started an advisory role that combines my personal interest in healthier ageing with my passion for both technology and a belief that it can help provide support in so many areas.?

I also care about our #socialhousing sector and with many years working in the sector and the care arms of many housing associations it all starts to make a great deal of sense. So, you can see why this matters to me.

The start-up I am now delighted to support is called Smplicare

Their technology and mobile application has been co-designed with older adults and their families to empower them with the insights and interventions they need to live safe, healthy, happy lives at home for longer.?

Pulling insights from a range of market-leading wearables and combining them with data from digital health devices and clinically based questionnaires and then applying AI and advanced analytics to the data, Smplicare can proactively alert our customers to their risk of a range of adverse health outcomes, beginning with the threat of falling.

I feel there is a great opportunity for housing associations to participate first in the research programme, taking part in free innovative research on healthy ageing and falls. It is this research,?backed by funding from the UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge 2019-2024, delivered by Innovate UK and ESRC and a few inspired pre-seed investors that will help Smplicare to enhance the technology, the algorithms and the intelligence that will help not only those taking part but many more to follow. The research is supported by the 英国爱丁堡大学 and the The Data Lab - Innovation Centre

When it comes to the Housing sector we are seeing an increase in the use of AI technology and when you add in the recognition of the pandemic lock-downs and how technology aided many who never used it before, as well as the current?cost of living crisis, looming regulations, and day-to-day needs of residents (especially those moving into their retirement years), then it comes as no surprise that any ability to integrate technologies into care scenarios would be welcome.

I would be keen to talk to anyone in the sector who looks at technology solutions for their care services to explain how you can take part in the completely free research.?