18 innovators have been announced as winners of TechForce19, a fund to support the roll-out of tech for the elderly, vulnerable and self-isolating during COVID-19.
Earlier in the week Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX announced the programme received over 1,600 applications, each applying for funding of up to £25,000.
Gould said, “We had over 1600 applicants, and a number of providers have been selected covering a range of remote care, mental health and staffing and volunteering needs. We will be working with Academic Health Science Networks and others to test these innovations in local areas.”
The programme aims to provide technologies to support new parents, the homeless, unpaid carers, young people and cancer patients, through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 18 successful innovators will now receive funding immediately and will go through a 2-3 week testing phase to build evidence, before being supported with wider roll-out.
Guy Boersma, Digital and AI Lead, The AHSN Network said “This list of solutions is testament to the talent being harnessed to address the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The health and care sector has already seen many solutions being deployed to support vulnerable citizens with mental health needs or other specific conditions, and the pandemic makes it even more necessary that we address the needs of citizens unable to access face-to-face care or even their usual social networks.”
“We are delighted that we have a series of solutions which can be piloted and then scaled to address these pressing needs.”
The 18 winning innovations include:
- Feebris helps carers to identify health risks and deterioration within elderly communities. The app guides a carer through a 10min check-up, including capture of vital signs from connected medical-grade sensors (digital stethoscope, pulse oximeter etc.). The intention is to provide Feebris to care homes to help carers triage the day-to-day health needs of their residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also enhance the capabilities of remote clinicians.
- Chanua provides Neurolove.org, a platform providing a friendly ear and human support for young people to help them to keep virtually social and safe online.
- Peppy helps parents-to-be and new parents remotely access trusted, convenient advice from perinatal and mental health experts.
- TeamKinetic’s digital platform helps organisations better manage community-led volunteer programmes.
- Vinehealth, is a mobile app to support cancer patients and their loved ones during treatment by allowing them to easily track and understand their care, including their symptoms, side effects, appointments and medications. By completing a 1-minute daily log, cancer patients can develop a clear overview of their progress through treatment and access advice on how to cope and when to access health services.
- Beam is a digital platform that supports the homeless and vulnerable. Beam takes referrals from local authorities and homeless charities, then ensures goods are funded, delivered and documented.
- Alcuris’ Memohub® prolongs the independence of elderly or vulnerable people, enabling them to return to home quicker, from hospital discharge. A digital platform collates data from unobtrusive sensors placed in the home, then provides actionable alerts when behaviour changes, enabling families to intervene early to delay or reduce the frequency of professional ‘crisis intervention’ help.
- Ampersand Health’s self-management apps help people with long term, immune mediated diseases (such as Crohn’s and Colitis) live happier and healthier lives. Using behavioural and data science, the apps deliver courses and programmes designed to improve sleep quality, stress management and medication adherence; with modules for activity, diet and relationships in the works.
- Aparito uses remote monitoring technology (videos, wearables, photos and text) to gather patient-generated data outside of hospital. This is focused on patients with rare diseases. Data is captured and transferred via the patient’s own smartphone / tablet and made available to clinicians or researchers in real-time to help avoid direct contact during the COVID-19 crisis.
- Birdie provides a digital platform for home care agencies to better manage the care they provide. Care workers capture daily visit logs, and a central hub allows staff to track real-time information. Family members receive live and daily safety and well-being updates through the app, including from optional home monitoring sensors.
- Buddi Connect is a smartphone app, enabling people to stay in touch with those they care for. Safe groups of connections are united through the app to share private, secure messages and raise instant alerts when help is needed. Important messages from the NHS can be shared directly to users.
- Just Checking supplies activity monitoring systems, used by local authorities to help with assessment of older people in their homes, for social care.
- Peopletoo and Novoville have been selected to launch GetVolunteering, a volunteering app to fast track volunteers into clinical and non-clinical roles to support the fight against COVID-19.
- RIX Research & Media, University of East London – The RIX Multi Me toolkit provides highly accessible and secure social networking that serves as a support network for people with learning disabilities and mental health challenges.
- Simply Do will develop a virtual community of NHS medical professionals currently in self-isolation. These employees have significant expertise, experience and skills which can be unlocked virtually to help solve COVID-19 care challenges set within the platform.
- SureCert is a digital platform that connects people with job and volunteering opportunities. The system also manages background checks.
- VideoVisit® HOME allows the elderly to communicate with their family members and home care providers through a virtual care tablet designed specifically for elderly.
- Virti aims to make experiential education affordable and accessible for everyone. Virtual and augmented reality, coupled with AI, transports users into difficult to access environments and safely assesses them under pressure to improve their performance. The system is used for training and patient education.
