On May 27 and 28, the EPS Garazi hosted a new transnational meeting of the REVITAL project, a key event for sharing progress in the project’s pilot program, coordinating strategies, and strengthening collaboration among the consortium partners.
Reception of Garazi Healthcare System on Tuesday, May 27
The meeting began with a welcome coffee, followed by a presentation of the pilot case led by EPS Garzi in France by Paloma Álvarez, the physiotherapist coordinating the REVITAL project at the institution. First, a comprehensive overview of the French healthcare system and the structure of Garazi Healthcare System was provided. It is precisely at this location of Garazi Healthcare System (which includes a hospital and three public nursing homes) that the REVITAL pilot program is being conducted. Some of the technological tools used in the pilot were presented, such as MediMoov, Cérébro, Fonctionsexcutives.com, Vitalstim Plus, and the Hank, Belk, and Helk exoskeletons. The pilot currently has 39 participants (5 completed, 34 ongoing), with 14 more planned for the future.
Next, administrative issues related to the project declarations were addressed (presented by Melania Dąbrowska, project manager at Cluster SIVI), and progress in staff training was shared in the three pilot cases, led by the San Cebrián Foundation (FSC), with a presentation by Abigail Azpeleta, case manager at FSC.
Work Plan
The status of patient selection and the implementation of the pilot project was also reviewed, highlighting the work carried out by ESTIA, which was presented by the organization’s project manager, Jon Arambarri, and the imminent start of the pilot project in Portugal. Monica Cardoso, project technician at AEBB, and IPCB physiotherapists Mariana Fonseca and Inês Gomes, highlighted the progress being made to begin the pilot project in June.
In addition, the work plan for the evaluation activities was presented, with interventions by DEUSTO, through Ibon Oleagordia Ruiz, project manager at Deusto, and the Social Services Management (GSS) of the Regional Government of Castilla y León, through Beatriz Jiménez Galán, project manager at GSS. These interventions focused on the collection of homogeneous statistical data and the evaluation of tools using USE (Usefulness, Satisfaction and Ease of Use) and SUS (System Usability Scale) questionnaires. It was proposed to prioritize functional analysis based on user profiles and the devices used, especially those developed by Gogoa Mobility Robots, which included Íñigo Urkidi, the organization’s project manager, present at the meeting.
The HENKO NET project generates synergies with REVITAL
Wednesday’s session began by focusing on communication and dissemination, highlighting the planned attendance at the MEDICA fair, the presentation of new promotional materials, and upcoming social media initiatives. This was followed by an interesting presentation of the HENKO NET project, also funded by Interreg-Sudoe, which focuses on innovation and digital technologies for Social and Health Palliative Care in the Home.
Fátima González, Project Manager of the INTRAS Foundation, presented her project’s initiatives aimed at creating knowledge communities, identifying best practices, and analyzing the socioeconomic impact of these strategies, generating synergies with the REVITAL project.
“One of the objectives of these projects is to transmit knowledge and clearly convey the improvement in quality of life and the savings generated by these strategies. Subsequently, we want to continue this through the socioeconomic analysis we are going to develop,” highlighted Fátima González, project manager at INTRAS and project manager of the HENKO NET project.
Closing of the meeting and next steps
Next, real clinical cases presented by the EPS Garazi team were shared, demonstrating the positive effects of using tools such as Medimoov and the Belk exoskeleton in patients with stroke and mobility difficulties.
The meeting concluded with the definition of the next steps and the strategy for continuing the project, as well as the planning of the next in-person follow-up meeting, which will be held at the headquarters of the San Cebrián Foundation Group in Palencia, the date of which will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
REVITAL thus concluded another in-person meeting of the project, which continues to consolidate its cross-border work to improve care and quality of life in rural areas through technological innovation and institutional cooperation.
