More than 60 people met online on 20 June 2025 under the umbrella of the COMFORTage project’s COMFORTage Community Forum and one of its Thematic Areas. They shared information on service delivery interventions in the fields of dementia and frailty, and how they can be supported by digital technologies.

Take-aways:

Among the chief take-aways were:

• Digital technologies are no longer ‘proofs of concept’. They are already being used by healthcare organisations (even in the absence of a reimbursement mechanism). Why? They address needs which are currently either not or are scarcely dealt with. In COMFORTage, the eventual piloting of some of these technologies will provide more clinically-grounded evidence of their impact.  

• Different types of technologies integrate one or several assistive, recreational, sensory, and social purposes. Example technologies can include artificial intelligence (AI) alarms, apps, reminders, (social) robots, sensors, serious games, speech recognition, telerehabilitation, and virtual reality.  

• These approaches form part of a growing concern with cognitive health and brain health which acknowledges that mental impacts on individuals and society are increasing and recognise that technology may help by reorienting assessment and intervention processes.  

• AI (including generative AI), serious games, and virtual reality are gaining in popularity.  

• Webinars, like this 20 June 2025 one, help with knowledge-sharing, learning, and capacity-building.  

Overview

This webinar was held in the context of EHTEL’s 2025 Imagining 2029 work programme and COMFORTage’s Thematic Network 1 (TA1) on Dementia and Frailty Service Delivery Models for affected patients and their caregivers. In 2025, this was the second webinar organised together by EHTEL and the COMFORTage project in the context of TA1.

The webinar explored the evaluation of digital health technologies aimed at supporting people experiencing either dementia or frailty. Four speakers offered dedicated insights into a set of useful technologies and their characteristics. Panellists then added further examples.

The event attracted over 60 participants, including speakers and panellists. EHTEL’s digital health facilitator, Luc Nicolas introduced and facilitated the event.

Background

This webinar series explores how people living with dementia or frailty are currently supported and what short-term or medium-term opportunities – including the use of digital technologies – can be seized to improve the well-being of both themselves and their caregivers. In the European Union (EU), dementia prevalence in people over 60 already increased from 5.9 million in the year 2000 to about 9.1 million in 2018. Very different clinical conditions are, however, covered by the words “dementia” and “frailty”. Everyone with dementia is unique and therefore requires a personalised approach to his or her needs.

The webinar series explores the (digital) solutions proposed to cope with dementia/frailty and the viewpoints of all the main actors who can make a difference. The stakeholders include social and healthcare professionals, industry, policymakers, and researchers.

Each webinar is part of a journey, and each webinar builds in sequence on the previous one.

This 20 June 2025 TA1 webinar was one of three webinars due to be held throughout 2025. The first was organised on 21 March 2025 on Analysing Patient and Caregiver Needs. This second webinar was focused on Assessing Interventions by Digital Health Technologies to Support Dementia and Frailty.

EHTEL organises around eight webinars a year as part of its annual work programme on topics like transforming care delivery, change management, and interoperability for the digital health community.

COMFORTage’s three thematic areas (TA1, TA2, and TA3) are run as a collaborative network which aims at sustaining and amplifying the project’s impact long after its formal conclusion (not simply during the project duration). The network is becoming a thriving community.

Speakers

Introduced by EHTEL’s digital health facilitator, Luc Nicolas, the webinar focused on covering fields which ranged over different areas of care from the most direct to the most sophisticated. It covered the delivery of services; the major impacts that the conditions involved can have on diverse individuals, their families, and their caregivers; and which technologies are currently used in support.

The webinar content enabled attendees to see what technologies are already available today: their objectives, their target users, their levels of maturity, and the actual types of technology used:

• Objectives: Assessment, prevention (addressing physical, cognitive, nutritional aspects), monitoring, motivation, and coaching or quality of life.

• Target users: Consideration of the demographics, the type of impairment, and the stage of the disease.

• Levels of maturity: Compliance, market availability, and affordability.

• Types of technology used: Different types of technologies bring together one or several assistive, recreational, sensory, and social purposes. Example technologies can include apps, alarms, and reminders, social robots, sensors, serious games, and virtual reality.

Actual technologies described ranged over artificial intelligence (AI), mobile apps (including ‘companions’), serious games, speech recognition, telerehabilitation, and both virtual reality and augmented reality.

People’s experiences with these kinds of technologies are varied. As facilitator Luc Nicolas said, for example, “AI (artificial intelligence) is not as customisable as it could be.” In terms of the market, topics covered included especially compliance, cost, and accessibility.

Three speakers then focused on the challenges which they have faced. They outlined the choice and testing of tools, integrating tools with clinical research, and how tools ‘find their way’ to the market. The three approaches covered: what technologies are usable and deployable; adaptable innovations; and what is currently commercially available. 

▶️ Watch the video of the three speakers or access their presentations below:

💠 Sergi Valero, ACE - Barcelona, Spain: “Choosing and testing tools, the ACE experience”

The Ace Alzheimer Center (ACE) Barcelona is a non-profit entity at the service of people with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, and their families. Since 1995, ACE has worked in the fields of diagnosis, treatment, research, training, and awareness. The centre sees around 3,000 new patients every year. It has a number of ongoing projects, including work on genomics and biomarkers. Through an examination of speech processing, the centre is able to detect conditions e.g., cognitive impairments, at a very early stage of development before symptoms appear, and to track the conditions even in a person’s home (this AI-driven application can function remotely). ACE works with other partners and their products, such as Punto Health, PuntoCare, and PuntoClinic, Digital Health London, NHS England, and – in Catalunya, Spain – the Barcelona Hub and the Serious Games Lab.

Sergi Valerospoke about ACE’s currently ongoing and future activities and ambitions. The Center itself concentrates on taking care of individuals.  

Sergi Valero commented that people with a cognitive impairment may experience long periods of decline without undergoing a diagnosis. Hence, apps like the ones developed in the context of ACE enable positive action to be taken on treating the condition at a much earlier stage. To spot affected individuals, ACE is working in collaboration with a pharmacy based near to its Memory Clinic. A quick assessment of people’s memory capacities is undertaken, followed up by a phone call and appointment-making. In the 400 pharmacies approached, 40% of the individuals involved were positive cases (i.e., the individuals had some stage/form of dementia).

In addition, the Center also wants to help women who are peri-menopausal or who are going through the menopause and who may be experiencing “brain fog”. In this context, the Center has built up a useful relationship with Dexeus Dona/Dexeus Mujer, a foundation with various centres that focuses on obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive medicine.

ACE’s work will expand its remit after summer 2025. It will then focus largely on digital platforms by extending their reach, scaling up the populations with which they deal, and building up both clinical expertise and technology.

💠Aristodemos Pnevmatikakis, iSprint, Greece: “Healthentia – a virtual companion, an integrator, and a tool to connect the patient with clinical research”

Innovation Sprint (iSprint), a Belgian small- and medium-sized enterprise founded in 2016, has produced the Healthentia tool and platform. The app integrates a care companion with a clinical dashboard. Registered as software as a medical device, it applies an AI-driven behavioural change framework, and acts to provide a healthier lifestyle. It is already used in 50 hospitals in 10 countries, is mature, and generates revenue.

The companion tool collects data from people/patients which are shared with healthcare providers and offers advice to the person/patient which are also accepted/approved by the healthcare providers. The lessons (or “dialogues”) offered to the people/patients are proposed by AI. The tool also works with a library of widgets; uses a point system to calculate adherences; and operates a “leaderboard”. The tool is “fully customisable”.

Examples of the data collected and advice given are data on weight, physical activities, and nutrition. The information, questionnaires, and notifications are being validated or have been validated.

In the context of COMFORTage project toolkits, iSprint is working on the provision of tutorials and educational content.

Aristodemos indicated that the company is “gamifying the experience to enhance the engagement level and achieve good adherence scores.” Overall, Healthentia provides a “gateway enabling integration”.

💠 Marco Pirini, Khymeia, Italy: “What are the main products and tools which have found their way to the market”

The Khymeia Group was founded in 1998. Based in northern Italy, the company concentrates on neurological functional recovery. At its start, it was the first company in Italy to use e.g., virtual reality for augmented feedback, and in 2020 it was the first company to use a 360 degree treadmill technology. The company is/has been the technology partner of various international institutions and networks, including the Italian IRCSS, Network of Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation (RIN); the European Space Agency; and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Marco introduced a wide range of digital tools, including tools that count as medical devices. The tools are available in multiple languages, include modular solutions, and cover a range of conditions including cardio-respiratory, neurological, oncological (cancer), and orthopaedic. Overall, it has produced some20 modules, 200+ installations, 1,500 home rehabilitation services, and more.

The digital tools mentioned specifically included fully immersive virtual reality to assist speech therapy, a home-based kit for telerehabilitation, and a friendly app for doctors called ‘Medico Amico', which enables doctors to monitor their patients’ status and progress.

A number of the digital solutions for rehabilitation have been co-designed with other partners. Other results include e.g., VRSS and VRSS Compact, which are expert virtual reality simulation and training systems.

Over 1,000 exercises have been produced, which are both immersive and non-immersive. More than 100 clinically-based papers/documents have been published.

To end, Marco spoke in detail on the company’s work on cognitive impairment, speech therapy, telerehabilitation services, and the evaluation of patients’ condition at home.

Panellists

The panel helped to bridge the gap between solutions and what is on the market. Several panellists offered more insights and examples of technologies. Each panellist comes an institution which is a partner in the COMFORTage project. Two of the partners are involved as COMFORTage’s pilot initiatives.

Emmanouil (Manolis) Rigas of AUTH described the COMFORTAGE training and education platform and hub, which are currently under development. Ultimately, they will include summaries, a catalogue, sets of applications, and links to tools and will be available in a variety of languages. Community-building is part of the goal. COMFORTage aims to differentiate its platform from others currently available.

Maria José Hernandez and Fatima Gonzalez Dalau, presented on the part of COMFORTAGE’s Fundación Intras. They started by outlining the persona of a 70-year old woman called Maité. They then introduced the GRADIOR Suite, a suite of apps to improve people’s memory and cognition. This product offers a neurological intervention which can provide a multi-dimensional approach to handling therapy.

Stelios Pantelopoulos, from the research unit and Greek branch of Maggioli S.p.A, a century-old family company of “innovators by tradition”, with a focus on technology (today its orientation is towards AI, big data, and machine learning). He introduced serious games for brain fitness for use with older adults. These games can be used alongside other tools (e.g., AI and speech recognition) and can undergo technical enhancements. They can work on tablets or with other specialist devices. With regard to brain fitness, Stelios spoke of the need to “use it or lose it” – meaning that brain fitness needs to be maintained. He remarked that the serious game(s) he was describing could help to delay the impact that dementia could have.

Sofia Segkouli of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas/Information Technologies Institute (CERTH/ITT) spoke about the work being done on the nZeb Smart House in a Greece-based Digital Innovation Hub / living lab. The hub sees its work as “going beyond Alexa, etc.” Controls that can be operated in the house include the smart home’s heat and light. Among the tools that can be used in the house are augmented reality/virtual reality (with a focus on e.g., shopping in a digital supermarket and support and AI-driven conversational agents). 

Luc Nicolas rounded up the panellist inputs with two insights. First, it can be difficult for technology developers to simplify and to create products that are ‘fit for purpose’. It does, however, appear today that national/regional health authorities in Europe now ready to invest resources in domains such as prevention and rehabilitation.

Conclusions and next steps

Building on both what the speakers and the panellists had to say, the webinar enabled its attendees to:

• Acquire an overall understanding of the current state of play of digital health technologies.
• Learn how these technological tools can contribute to new services delivery models provided by an extended number of actors.
• Learn what business models have so far been successful, and how digital intervention tools innovators can play a key role in advancing research.

Given the content introduced in this 20 June 2025 webinar, attendees were invited to also look out for future 2025 webinars: 

• Next in line, is a webinar on understanding and addressing the policy-related and business implications of implementing dementia and frailty digital apps, to be held on 26 September 2025 by the COMFORTage Community Forum. Make sure you register to attend.

Two useful webinars were held in June 2025 drew on work by projects such as COMFORTage and xShare.

Last but certainly not least, attendees should also look out the directions to be taken in 2025, and beyond, in terms of the European Health Data Space (EHDS).