In response to Europe’s ageing population and the shortage of care staff, the European ACE project has turned to innovation to rethink how older people and those with disabilities can continue to live at home. Led in Brittany by Biotech Santé Bretagne and CoWork’HIT, this project has enabled practical solutions to be tested at the Kerpape rehabilitation centre, with promising results for patients, professionals and businesses.
The European Interreg ACE project, which brings together 13 partners from six countries (Germany, Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden), came to an end in June 2026 (see our article on the project’s closing event), after more than three years of collaboration.
Biotech Santé Bretagne and CoWork’HIT were the two Breton partners in the project. On behalf of Brittany, CoWork’HIT coordinated the organisation of cross-border trials, enabling innovations developed elsewhere in Europe to be tested in real-world home care settings in a partner country.
In this video, you will hear from CoWork’HIT, an innovation centre specialising in disability and loss of independence, which discusses its role in organising real-life trials by bringing together businesses, healthcare professionals and service users to identify the barriers and adaptations required for the integration of innovative solutions.
The Kerpape Centre shares its practical experience of pilot projects carried out with several European companies:
✅ Easy Willy (Netherlands): front wheels for wheelchairs that make it easier to negotiate obstacles, improving patients’ everyday mobility.
✅ Kinetic Analysis (Belgium): a smart garment that measures physiological parameters and movements, useful in rehabilitation.
✅ HelpSoq (Netherlands): a device to assist with putting on compression stockings, designed for people with motor disabilities or older people with reduced independence.
These trials have not only confirmed the usefulness of the devices, but have also identified areas for improvement based on feedback from patients and healthcare professionals.
BSB, a key player in healthcare innovation in Brittany
This project perfectly illustrates Biotech Santé Bretagne’s mission: to facilitate innovation in healthcare by supporting companies and project leaders from the initial idea through to market launch, drawing on scientific, technical and regulatory expertise.
By collaborating with organisations such as CoWork’HIT and institutions such as Kerpape, BSB reaffirms its role as a trusted third party, working to promote sustainable innovation that creates value for the region.
(Translated with DeepL.com)
Published on 26/08/2026
