Spree is an exercise app for reducing the risk of frailty in older adults, and encouraging communities to support at-risk individuals. It went on to win 1st prize at the Global Design Challenge for Sport and Physical Activity 2021, and a €10,000 development grant. It was a joint effort by Ross Dowd, Danann Cumiskey, John Glynn, Shane Keating and Tom English.
The onset of frailty in older adults brought on by continued social isolation can result in very serious consequences. Falls in older adults can cause significant physical and psychological injury to the individual, and send them to the hospital where they could contract further illness. Impaired strength and balance contribute to most falls in older adults. Improving stability requires a specific, fully tested and safe exercise programme and ongoing commitment by the older person. However, people are feeling isolated and alone, often with little motivation to keep active when there are other concerns to worry about.
The onset of frailty in older adults brought on by continued social isolation can result in very serious consequences. Falls in older adults can cause significant physical and psychological injury to the individual, and send them to the hospital where they could contract further illness. Impaired strength and balance contribute to most falls in older adults. Improving stability requires a specific, fully tested and safe exercise programme and ongoing commitment by the older person. However, people are feeling isolated and alone, often with little motivation to keep active when there are other concerns to worry about.
Strength and balance exercises have been shown to reduce the instances of serious injury sustained in a fall in the elderly and less physically mobile. Adherence to strength and balance exercise programmes such as the Otago Exercise Programme can prevent the occurrence of serious falls by as much as 35 - 40%, and has been proven in studies to significantly reduce the risk of death and falling in older community-dwelling adults.
Although many, many exercise apps are available, our research found that the overwhelming majority are targeted at a much younger audience, both in terms of their content and usability. Setup of new apps was found to be a pain point for a significant portion of our users. Creating an appropriate and accessible app for adults over the age of 65 was our priority.
The app consists of three user roles:
A Spotter has two clear roles, onboarding and coaching. By allowing the Spotter to create their Champion’s account, we make the onboarding process simple and streamlined. By reducing the barrier to entry, we aim to encourage more older adults to take up exercise via their smart devices.
The Champion is provided with exercises that are appropriate to their frailty level, as catalogued by the Spotter and a baseline frailty test. Exercise instructions are delivered in a clear and concise manner, using a combination of text and looped videos. The Champion has the choice to follow along with the exercise videos at their own pace, or to call their Spotter to remotely exercise and have them coach the Champion through it.
The friends and family of the Champion are also invited to download the Spree app as a Supporter, a distinct app mode solely devoted to noisily and proudly cheering on your fitness heroes. On the Champion completing an exercise, the Supporters receive a notification prompt to congratulate them. This support system is in place so as a family, a neighbourhood, or even a local GAA club can rally behind their local heroes and cheer them on during their fitness adventure.
Our focus was always to encourage and support people in order to motivate them to keep going. Through research we investigated what drives people to exercise, and what motivates them to keep up habits in general. Involvement with family and friends was high on that list, and became an insight that drove our design iterations throughout the process. Another key discovery was of the Otago Exercise Program, specifically developed to reduce falls in older persons. General practice of the program has significant health benefits for near-frail individuals, and we aimed to find a way to deliver this program in a remote-friendly way.
