Space-related health care service for the elderly  

Cardiovascular diseases are causing an estimated 17.9 million deaths each year. The ESA-coordinated NaturAgeing project relies on the use of navigation and EO satellite data to promote outdoor physical activities for seniors, preventing poor cardiovascular health, osteoporosis and sleep deprivation.​

Source: WHO

The NaturAgeing service is an innovative solution aiming to support outdoor activities in order to prevent poor cardiovascular health, osteoporosis and sleep deprivation in elderly population (>65 years of age). Smart mobile solutions and Earth Observation satellites are exploited in NaturAgeing to manage outdoor physical activities, to monitor the health status and to suggest corrective actions for maintaining optimal health conditions. NaturAgeing’s mobile app and wearable will provide seniors with advice on avoiding excessive sun damage and adverse weather outdoors, whilst at the same time regulating the vitamin D level from sun exposure. Tools to prevent falls also help to prevent injuries outdoor as GPS data can track the location of the person if they do experience a fall. The main space assets used by NaturAgeing are: (i) Earth Observation satellites for assessing the key health effects of solar radiation, like vitamin D synthesis, UV-A effects on cardiovascular system, topic effect of therapeutic cream for Actinic Keratosis; and (ii) navigation satellites for calculating health-related environmental parameters in real-time, knowing the exact location.