LifeCompanion, a customisable assistant for people who have difficulty communicating orally

Toni Codina on 11 July 2023

Personalised digital assistant that provides communication assistance and access to information technologies. It is free and open source and facilitates oral communication for people with difficulties.

LifeCompanion is a highly customisable and flexible assistant, so it can be used in different contexts, but it is mainly intended to facilitate computer access and communication. In fact, one of the outstanding features of LifeCompanion is its integrated speech synthesis, which allows users to communicate using speech. LifeCompanion thus aims to promote the social participation and autonomy of its users in areas such as communication, access to information technologies, education and employment. It also contributes to establishing social links, especially with caregivers and professionals close to them.

LifeCompanion works in such a way that it adjusts to the individual’s motor, visual, auditory or cognitive abilities and development. For example, it enables pictographic and phonetic communication, as it includes a vocabulary tree with pictograms and pictures and a customised phoneme communication keyboard. Digital keyboards can also be customised and typing can be accelerated with advanced word prediction. Among other functions, LifeCompanion also facilitates motor accessibility, anticipating movement and with advanced configurations in this area. In this regard, it is important to note that it has been co-designed by and in close collaboration with end users.

Characteristics of innovation

Bank of innovations, Cross-cutting intervention, Disability, Independent living, New technological tool, Personalization of the service, Process simplification, Proximity care, Right of choice of the user, Speed up response times, User empowerment

Localization

Brittany, France

Partners / Funders

Centre Mutualiste de Kerpape, CoWorkHit, Agence du Numérique en Santé, VYV3 Bretagne, Équipe Relais Handicaps Rares Bretagne, Institut Mutualiste de Formation de Bretagne, Université de Tours, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Fondation Garches, AAD Makaton, Approche

Genesis

LifeCompanion has been running since 2015 at the Kerpape Mutual Rehabilitation and Functional Rehabilitation Centre. It was initially intended to meet the needs of the centre’s patients, therapists and caregivers. Over time, the tool has evolved and adapted to meet different needs and uses. It has been used as part of the Predict4All project (2017-2021) and, within the framework of the Structures 3.0 project (2021-2022), LifeCompanion focused on meeting the needs of medico-social structures, offering support and services tailored to these environments. September 2021 saw the official launch of LifeCompanion, marking its availability to the public and the start of the service offering through CoWork’HIT.

Level of implementation

To date, LifeCompanion has proven to be a successful tool. It is considered very useful by users, allowing them quick access to active communication, autonomy and confidentiality in correspondence. It thus fulfils a basic need and enables people who have difficulty communicating orally to maintain essential links.

More information

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Rural Care, innovation in care for rural dependents

Toni Codina on 4 July 2023

An innovative project that offers social support, health care and opportunities for participation in the community to people with dependency, disability or chronic illness living in rural areas. It aims to enable people to remain at home with security, quality of life and dignity, maintaining their life project and daily routine.

In rural areas, which in recent years have been dominated by an ageing population, families, communities and volunteers play a crucial role in well-being. The Rural Care project stems from the desire to ensure active ageing around the home and is based on the premise that community participation is essential. This initiative is implemented in the province of Valladolid, in a rural context. Thus, this project, which is part of a European initiative for innovation in social services, is designed for people who are in situations of dependency and require constant support and care.

In this sense, the aim is to guarantee the dignity of people, ensuring their autonomy and respecting their preferences and wishes. Rural Care also focuses on the families and carers of the project participants, providing them with support to reconcile care tasks with personal, social and working life, as well as to ensure their own health.

This project stands out for its multi-level partnership of public and private actors, as well as for the coordination of social and health services at different levels. The Support Plan developed for each project participant includes different professionals: a coordinator, a case manager, a reference professional at home and in the community, among others. Among the support actions, it is worth highlighting that the home is also adapted and a personalised community participation programme is designed. In this sense, it is worth highlighting the fact that one of the project’s objectives is to dynamise the rural territory, local occupation, community involvement and social cohesion.