ROSIA Project completes Pilot Phase of innovative Solutions that aim to transform Telerehabilitation across Europe
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- The ROSIA project has completed its pilot phase, testing innovative telerehabilitation solutions designed to improve access to healthcare in rural and remote areas.
- Over 100 patients from Spain, Portugal and Ireland have tested the ROSIA solutions, Rehabilify and RAISE, benefiting from personalised digital rehabilitation pathways.
- The evaluation of the platforms aims to explore their potential to support patients and healthcare professionals in digital rehabilitation pathways.
- ROSIA seeks to open the door for broader adoption of these digital rehabilitation solutions across Europe, with the ambition to improve accessibility, continuity, and quality of care.
The pilot phase of the European project ROSIA, Remote Rehabilitation Service for Isolated Areas (GA 101017606), has successfully concluded, marking a major milestone in the development of advanced telerehabilitation services for rural and remote communities across Europe.
Led by the Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), in collaboration with three healthcare systems working in rural areas: Aragón Health Service (SALUD), the National Rehabilitation Hospital of Ireland (NRH), and the Local Health Unit of Coimbra in Portugal (ULS), ROSIA brings together 12 partners from 5 countries. The European Commission funds the project through a €5 million pre-commercial procurement initiative, of which €3.9 million was allocated to a competitive tender process across three phases: solution design, prototype development, and pilot testing.
ROSIA aims to bridge the gap in access to rehabilitation services for patients living in underpopulated areas by developing a smart, integrated telerehabilitation platform. This platform supports personalised care pathways and enables the efficient integration of apps and devices, providing telerehabilitation support, real-time monitoring, and data management.
Launched in 2021 and set to conclude in December 2025, ROSIA has now validated two innovative solutions, Rehabilify (led by Fundació Eurecat) and RAISE (led by CERTH-Ethniko Kentro), through pilot testing in rural regions of Aragón in Spain, Penela/Soure in Portugal, and community settings in Ireland. These solutions were selected from earlier phases of the procurement process and have been tested over several months in real-world healthcare settings.
During the pilot, approximately 100 patients with diverse rehabilitation needs—including spinal cord injury, severe brain injury, respiratory and cardiac conditions, knee injuries, and stroke— participated in the pilots conducted by the three healthcare systems. The goal was to assess the platforms’ core functionalities from both patient and healthcare professional perspectives, and to evaluate their practical value in supporting telerehabilitation workflows.
The pilot phase has provided critical insights into the feasibility of integrating these solutions into routine clinical practice, showing how digital rehabilitation tools can deliver personalized care with professional oversight, improving accessibility and continuity of care for patients in remote areas.
In the coming months, the project will focus on evaluating the potential for broader adoption of these solutions—not only by the participating healthcare systems but also by other European potential procurers. Long-term sustainability and the scalability of the innovations developed through ROSIA are key factors for the near future.
ROSIA represents a significant step forward in the digital transformation of European healthcare systems, aligning with the EU’s goals for sustainability and innovation. The continued development and deployment of these solutions could usher in a new era of equitable, efficient, and patient-centered care.
About ROSIA
ROSIA is a collaborative effort involving numerous institutions and partners from five European countries. The project is coordinated by Instituto Aragones de Ciencias de la Salud (IACS, Spain) and driven by three public healthcare systems: Servicio Aragones de Salud (SALUD, Spain), Unidade Local de Saúde de Coimbra (ULSC, Portugal), and the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH, Ireland). Other key partners include VALDE Innova (Spain), the Instituto Pedro Nunes (Portugal), The International Foundation for Integrated Care (The Netherlands), The Decision Group (The Netherlands), el Instituto para la Experiencia del Paciente (Spain), PPCN.xyz Aps (Denmark) and the municipalities of Penela and Soure in Portugal.
The Solutions: Rehabilify and Raise
REHABILIFY is the solution developed by a Spanish Consortium Led by the Spanish technology centre Fundació Eurecat, which also involves two other Spanish entities, the SME Doole Health, and the Germans Trias i Pujol research Centre (IGTP).
RAISE has been developed by an international consortium Led by the Greek entity CERTH (Centre For Research And Technology Hellas, Ethniko Kentro), which also integrates the Spanish TELEVES, IBV and Vidavo, the Greek Research Committee University Ioannina (UoI), the Portuguese Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Tecnologia e Ciência (INESCTEC).
