REACH consortium : Highlights
REACH (Responsive Engagement of the Elderly Promoting Activity and Customized Healthcare) aims to develop a service system that will turn clinical and care environments into personalisable modular sensing, prevention, and intervention systems that encourage the elderly to become healthy via activity.
The consortium brings together a large variety of stakeholders from higher education institutions to industry [1] involving also hospitals, and health care technology companies.
REACH creates new market opportunities for the European industry, including SMEs to capitalize on European high-tech-knowhow, to make Europe a market leader in prevention and empowerment technologies. In addition, REACH focuses on the systematic, target-oriented increase of physical activity of older people, and tackles in this context the whole prevention spectrum (primary, secondary, and tertiary) [2]. In this emergency situation, the consortium has become even more aware of the idea of creating a better and more resilient future for us all. So in this context we are witnessing a forced acceleration in the creation and dissemination of innovative solutions to face this crisis situation but at the same time to improve the quality of life of older people. For example, thanks to or because of this pandemic, social distancing is fundamental and this can become a springboard for ActivLife, which is a system for cognitive activation and physical rehabilitation of the elderly. With this solution the caregiver always maintains a distance of 2 meters from the patients and the device can be easily disinfected after use. For the same reasons, the TRACK - Total Room Assistive Care Kit system facilitates patient mobilization and helps monitor vital signs and potentially dangerous situations, for elderly people with moderate to high self-care restrictions. Taking into account also social isolation, which is directly related to a significant deterioration in health and depression, it is assumed that this problem will be aggravated by the COVID 19 epidemic and to address it, efforts are being made to further develop Invis Care. Invis Care application brings information on activity level of the user and facilitates daily, regular contact between the user and the caregiver with several coaching functions. The right level of contact and attention of a loved one reduces the feeling of loneliness and helps prevent depression in addition to make miracles to cognitive and physical activity.