Falls cost the UK £4.4 billion per year. Smplicare is on a mission to transform fall prevention and prevent 1 million of those falls by 2030
In October 2022, Smplicare, an Edinburgh start-up, launched a groundbreaking national study to develop software that can predict the real-time, individualised risk of falling among older adults in the U.K. Smplicare’s focus on fall prevention is driven by the desire to reduce the detrimental effects that a fall can have not only on individual lives, but on healthcare systems. Falls currently affect an estimated 34% of the UK population over 65, at the cost of £4.4 billion annually, and are considered the most common catalyst for an accelerated loss of independence. The vision for this work is two-fold.
Machine learning algorithm to identify fall risk
First, through a study funded by UK Research and Innovation, Smplicare is developing a machine learning algorithm that will be able to proactively identify if someone has an elevated risk of falling. To do this, Smplicare provides wearables, body composition scales, and the Smplicare mobile application to 300 older adults who meet the Study criteria. Participation in the Study is free, and those participating will simply incorporate these digital health devices into their daily routine for six months. During this time, the Smplicare team will collect data from the devices to identify patterns and linkages with predictive capability.
Smplicare uses seven different models of comparatively low-cost, commodity wearables manufactured by companies like Fitbit and Garmin, and has developed a separate algorithm that normalises the variable output from the devices. This will allow the fall prevention algorithm, which will be certified as a Class 2A medical device, to work across multiple wearables, promoting choice and flexibility among consumers to alleviate the stigma often faced by more current telecare systems.
This phase is strictly observational, which is required to train the algorithm, and Smplicare has partnered with housing associations, local councils, care homes and similar organisations to recruit participants. Smplicare’s mission has drawn interest from individuals and organisations from Brighton to the Scottish Highlands, representing meaningful gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. And although the Study just launched, participants are already producing quality data, exceeding Smplicare’s 90% compliance target.
Placing people at the core of Smplicare fall prevention design
Since its founding, Smplicare has been committed to developing technology that places people at the core of the design process. And because of this, Smplicare’s team is continuously capturing participant feedback and adding this valuable qualitative knowledge back into the product.
For the next phase of the Study, Smplicare is actively looking for partner organisations that would benefit from piloting Smplicare’s technology and will be able to use the data produced in phase one to explore a range of interventions. Smplicare is considering opportunities that will allow their solution to have a large-scale reach, whether in the U.K., E.U., or the U.S., during this next phase of the Study.
If you or your organisation are interested in participating in either phase, please get in touch. Smplicare is accepting rolling enrolment in the Study.
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