Adding life to years through digital technology – with LifeCurve™
Kathy Everitt1, Sarah Mitchell11Te Whatu Ora Hauora A Toi Bay Of Plenty, Tauranga, New Zealand
Abstract
LifeCurve™ is a digital enablement initiative implemented by an Allied Health team within Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty. The LifeCurve™ app and website were launched in New Zealand in October 2022.
The LifeCurve™ digital service is designed to help people age better and is based on research on age-related functional decline from Newcastle University, UK. Research shows that people can change how they age and LifeCurve™ assesses how people are ageing based on their abilities to do everyday functional activities such as hill-walking, stair-climbing or house-work. People are then given personalised packages of advice including evidence-based exercises and healthy ageing tips, which can help them improve their position on the LifeCurve™, maintain their independence and age better. Users can also choose goals to ‘Take care of myself’, ‘Manage everyday tasks more easily’ or ‘Improve my strength and balance’ and receive personalised advice based on research and knowledge from physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
The new LifeCurve™ app and website have been updated in partnership with Māori through a Te Ao Māori focus group in the Bay of Plenty to include cultural elements which support Te Reo Māori (Māori language) and a Māori world view.
Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi recognises that with an ageing population there is a need to focus on prevention and use innovative and transformative approaches to deliver healthcare closer to home, empower people to take more control of their health, utilise technology to support wellbeing and raise equity for Māori.
Biography
Kathy Everitt is an experienced physiotherapist with a special interest in digital enablement. She has spent 2 years leading the LifeCurve™ project (research-based, healthy ageing digital service) which included working in partnership with Māori and culminated in the successful launch of the LifeCurve™ app and website.
Sarah Mitchell, PhD, is the Executive Director Allied Health Scientific and Technical Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi. Sarah has led on several initiatives and innovative models of care to support more integrated and enabling approaches to healthy ageing. All of which have focussed on equity, patient centeredness and the value of Allied Health