REENO
Older adults living in remote and rural areas face a double challenge: limited access to healthcare services and growing social isolation. Distance, demographic decline and scarce local resources make it harder for these communities to support the wellbeing of their most vulnerable members.
REENO is a community-centred digital platform co-designed with older adults and local stakeholders in Abruzzo, using the personal smartphone as an accessible hub for health monitoring, personalised activity programmes and social connection.
Through REENO, older adults monitor their health and receive tailored suggestions for staying active and connected, while doctors, social workers and community operators follow their wellbeing through a dedicated dashboard and can intervene promptly when needed.
REENO – REmote ENgagement for Older adults
REENO is a digital health solution developed by Ab.Acus as part of RURACTIVE, a project working to transform rural communities into vibrant centres of innovation through digital technology, local resource valorisation and social inclusion. REENO targets older adults in remote communities, where distance, demographic change and limited access to healthcare services make digital innovation not a convenience but a necessity.It is currently validated in some rural municipalities located in Abruzzo, Italy
REENO proposes a community-centred digital solution that uses the personal smartphone as a low-cost, widely accessible hub to collect and process health, lifestyle and environmental data. Through a cloud-based platform, user-friendly mobile application and operator dashboard, REENO enables continuous monitoring of health and behavioural indicators, and delivers tailored physical and cognitive activity programmes that evolve dynamically based on each person’s real-life conditions. A key innovation lies in merging health metrics with geolocation data to generate hyper-personalised interventions that promote healthy living and social connectedness. REENO also integrates tools for building mutual aid and leisure-sharing networks, fostering local solidarity and active citizenship and reducing the sense of loneliness that many elderly people face, alongside a light gamification layer that rewards participation and strengthens community ties. Environmental awareness features provide timely alerts about risks such as extreme heat, giving users clear, actionable guidance as part of their daily routine.
Ab.Acus leads the design and development of REENO, drawing on its established expertise in passive monitoring, human-centred design and co-creation methodology. The solution has been co-designed from the outset with elderly residents and local stakeholders in Abruzzo, ensuring the application genuinely reflects the needs, habits and expectations of its users. The operator dashboard gives healthcare professionals, social workers and community managers a clear interface to communicate with the elderly people, but also monitor participants’ wellbeing and intervene promptly when needed, creating a seamless connection between the digital tool and the human support network surrounding each user.
REENO represents Ab.Acus’s commitment to applying digital health innovation where it is most needed: in communities that are too often overlooked by technology-driven progress. By combining continuous health monitoring, personalised intervention, social connection and environmental awareness into a single accessible platform, REENO aims to become a trusted daily companion for older adults in rural Abruzzo: reducing isolation, supporting independent living, and demonstrating that well-designed digital tools can improve quality of life regardless of where people live.