Press Release: Homes for Healthy Ageing
PRESS RELEASE
21st November 2022
TENDERTEC PARTNERS WITH BRIGHTON UNIVERSITY AND BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT AND SHINE A LIGHT ON THE CONTRIBUTION OF UNPAID CARERS.
Connected Places Catapult’s Homes for Healthy Ageing programme has given Tendertec the opportunity to roll out their AI-powered care assistant platform, Hestia, to help carers have better caring journeys.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s ambition is for everyone in Brighton & Hove to be able to age well and live independently thanks to services and knowledge that connect them with their communities. 80% of care in the UK is provided by unpaid carers. According to Carers UK’s 2022 State of Caring Report[1], many carers have poor physical and mental health, but are not always receiving the support they need. 41% of them have not taken a break in the last year and of that a 26% of unpaid carers hadn’t tried to take a break because they felt it was too difficult. However, 51% of the unpaid carers that participated in Carers UK’s survey said that being able to take a break would help them feel less lonely. Lastly, when asked how anxious they’ve been feeling, unpaid carers rated this as 5.1, higher than the UK average of 3.2.
As part of Connected Places Catapult’s Homes for Healthy Ageing programme, the University of Brighton and Brighton & Hove City Council are delivering a testbed to trial solutions that can support unpaid carers with the challenges they face, to improve their wellbeing and resilience.
“We are delighted to offer Tendertec the opportunity to trial their innovative solution in the Brighton & Hove testbed with local unpaid carers and the people they care for. Real-world testing opportunities like this are a fantastic way for innovators to collaborate with end users to bring meaningful and impactful solutions to the healthy ageing market.” Clémence Martin-Beaumont, Living Lab design manager, Connected Places Catapult
Tendertec’s mission is to build new tools to support better connections between carers and their loved ones, enabling people to age well and care well in place. As part of the testbed, Tendertec will focus their care assistant platform, Hestia, on supporting unpaid carers to better manage the burden of caring, as well as enabling them to deliver preventive care to their loved ones.
Hestia’s unique insights will also shine a light on the daily journeys of unpaid carers to support the Council’s and University’s efforts in mapping the unpaid carers’ contribution and the impact caring has on their lives and wellbeing.
[1] https://www.carersuk.org/images/Research/CUK_State_of_Caring_2022_report.pdf
Nowadays, as millions of people choose to age in place, millions more must figure out how to manage their loved one’s care needs whilst having limited time between family, work, caring and personal life. According to recent studies, 1 in 7 individuals try to balance their time between work and caring, whereas 2 in 3 of them develop mental and physical ill health as a result. Meanwhile, the market is crowded with reactive solutions, but no actual preventive tools to support them.
‘We are very excited working with Tendertec to test this innovative and disruptive technology, in an effort to support informal carers in their valuable role in taking care of their loved ones’ says Dr Theo Fotis, Reader at the School of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Brighton.
Tendertec’s care assistant platform is here to add value for unpaid carers by providing them with reassurance and the tools they need to keep their loved ones well and safe. At the same time, Hestia will be looking out for the carers who are at risk of running themselves down. Through the programme, Tendertec is anticipating that Hestia’s insights will enable both carers and their loved ones to be linked to appropriate support services available locally in an evidence-based manner, with the ultimate aim to prevent escalation of care needs and carer burnout.
‘At Tendertec, we believe that every person has the right to age well in place. We also believe that their carers have the right to be able to support them without stressing and burning out. We are ageing and caring better together.’ – Dr Afroditi Konidari, Tendertec Co-founder
About Tendertec
Tendertec is the award-winning start-up delivering better ageing journeys through powerful A.I. The team strive to build the infrastructure for ageing well in place and are working in partnership with leading institutions and innovative tech-enabled care providers to bring to the market solutions helping the elderly and their caregivers to revolutionise how they connect and make care decisions that help contribute to ageing better, caring better, and living better.
Website: http://www.tendertec.org
Follow us on Twitter: @tendertec
About Connected Places Catapult
Connected Places Catapult is the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership. They provide impartial ‘innovation as a service’ for mobility and built environment businesses, infrastructure providers and public institutions to catalyse step-change improvements in the way people live, work and travel. They connect businesses and public sector leaders to cutting-edge research, and help develop, implement, and commercialise the latest technology and innovation for existing markets, as well as create demand and grow new markets in the UK and globally.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information please contact:
Lydia Koumarela
Tendertec Limited
E-mail: contact@tendertec.org