Koalaa Kommunity: A holistic soft-orthotics service to help the over 50's adapt to upper-limb impairment and remain mobile, active and socially-connected in the community

**Motivation**

There are many contributors to loss, impairment or deterioration of upper limb function in older adults. In all instances, the majority not only struggle with everyday tasks, but are forced to stop doing the activities and hobbies they love. This leads to loss of social connections, confidence, independence and subsequently a more rapid deterioration in overall mental/physical health and steady decline in quality of life.

* Of the 1.3m UK stroke survivors, 77% (~1m) have upper limb/arm weakness or disability
* ~232,800 over 50's suffer wrist fractures, leading to long-term conditions impacting strength/mobility in arms, wrists and hands
* 66% of Multiple Sclerosis population have upper-limb motor impairments.
* These challenges have been exacerbated by COVID-19; Loneliness in over-50s to increase 49% by 2026
* \>8,000 UK 50+ year-olds with limb-loss

Currently, older adults suffering from limb impairment are under-served in the 50+ age group.

**Koalaa Kommunity**

In response to this challenge and an identified need from Koalaa and Clinicians, Koalaa will develop "Koalaa Kommunity" - an end-to-end orthotics service that enables older adults to be provisioned (sized, fitted, trained and encouraged) with lightweight, low-cost and easy-to-fit orthosis products, complemented by a range of user-designed interchangeable toolsets to support Activities of Daily Living such as gardening, cooking, cycling etc.

This subscription service gives older adults with limb impairment the support needed to remain physically active and independent for longer, via our functional orthoses and access to a Virtual Clinic and online community.

**We'll develop the following innovations;**

1. **Lightweight, low-cost wrist orthosis**: development of our patented soft-yet-strong PAWW sleeve to accommodate older adults with limb impairment (e.g. stroke survivor).
2. **5 x Interchangeable, self-attachable tools to support various activities:** Initial 5 activity-specific attachments developed to support specific activities (gardening, golf, cooking etc.).
3. **Virtual Clinic:** Remote matching, sizing, ordering and fitting of our orthoses via telemedicine, online portal and digital resources.
4. **"Limb Buddies":** All Koalaa users matched with peer-to-peer 'limb buddies'; Koalaa employees with limb difference themselves, for relatable, tailored customer service.
5. **Koalaa Kommunity**: Online forum, personal profiles, blogs, photo and videos
6. **End-user Idea Lab---Rapid Design Cycle service:** Crowdsourced ideas for new interchangeable tools, 6-week idea-to-product design cycle.
7. **Digital Resources Hub:** How-To's/guides/educational videos, Pre/post amputation/surgical support, Mental health resources

**Human Centred Approach**

With support from Dorset Orthopaedic(subcontactors) we'll work directly with older adults, clinicians and physiotherapists to develop an end-to-end subscription service that focuses on human-centred design and provides ongoing support to individuals with upper limb impairment.