On March 4, 2025, the EVOLVE2CARE project launched its online workshop series, bringing together experts, researchers, and healthcare professionals to explore innovative approaches in Transitional Care.
The workshop, titled “Empowering Innovators to Transform Transitional Care”, was the first out of three online events from the “Accelerating Innovation in Transitional Care” workshop series and brought together over 15 healthcare experts to explore how Living Labs drive innovation and support real-world experimentation.
Teemu Santonen, Principal Lecturer at Laurea University of Applied Sciences, shared insights into the Living Lab approach, showcasing how their Living Lab in Finland tested innovative health monitoring sensors.
More specifically, during the first session, Teemu highlighted the role of Living Labs in healthcare innovation, particularly for people with dementia, and provided a detailed case study illustrating the importance of market validation and user-driven development. This approach ensures that living Labs facilitate real-world validation of healthcare technologies by ensuring alignment with user needs, ethical considerations, and market feasibility.
Below are the key takeaways from his presentation:
Case Study: Wearable sensors for dementia patients & the role of living labs
- Aalto University developed and tested a biodegradable wearable pressure and temperature sensor in a lab environment with the aim of commercialization.
- Their initial funding application to Business Finland was rejected due to a lack of proper user and market research.
- By partnering with Living Labs, a new joint funding application was submitted, incorporating a Living Lab approach—this time, the funding was approved.
This case study highlighted that Living Labs are often essential for securing funding, as they demonstrate market relevance and product feasibility.
Defining Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) & the challenges of scaling innovations
Understanding Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) is essential for assessing the maturity of health tech innovations.
- The project initially assumed the solution was at TRL 4 (validated in a lab setting). However, further evaluation showed that only parts of the solution had been tested, and it lacked real-world implementation.
- Without proper user interaction and a clear commercialization strategy, the actual TRL was lower, reinforcing the importance of Living Labs in guiding innovation from early development to market entry.
Co-defining the values of the EVOLVE2CARE’s KPI Framework
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare innovation is ensuring that new solutions meet the expectations of innovators while also addressing business needs, user requirements, and data access challenges. To tackle this, the EVOLVE2CARE project has developed a KPI framework that helps measure the development and impact of health tech innovations within Living Labs.
Five (5) KPI EVOLVE2CARE’s categories identified:
- Business & Scale-Up Support – Helping innovators secure funding, expand, and reach new markets.
- User Recruitment & Engagement – Ensuring real-world feedback shapes innovation.
- Access to Data & Legal Support – Overcoming compliance and regulatory barriers.
- Real-Life Testing & Experimentation – Supporting clinical trials, prototyping, and product validation.
- Collaboration & Networking Opportunities – Strengthening partnerships across public, private, and academic sectors.
Interactive KPI ranking: What matters most?
Through an interactive quiz, participants ranked the most critical KPIs for assessing innovation success, providing valuable feedback that will shape future evaluation methods in the field.
Key insights from the poll:
- Business & Scale-Up Support ranked as the highest priority, highlighting the importance of funding and market expansion, while Access to Data & Legal Support ranked lower than all.
- The market adoption rate of innovations ranked as the most important KPI for scaling success, while the number of innovations expanded into new markets received neither one vote.
- User satisfaction with the innovation process ranked as the most critical KPI for measuring engagement.
- The biggest barrier to accessing relevant data for innovation was identified as data privacy and legal restrictions.
- Cross-border networking was identified as the most valuable type of collaboration for innovators, reinforcing the importance of international cooperation in healthcare innovation.
What’s next?
As the workshop series continues, future sessions will further explore innovative solutions in Transitional Care. The upcoming workshops will elaborate on how innovative solutions can better cover the needs of the Healthcare stakeholders, and how significant barriers can be overcome.
More specifically:
- The second workshop will explore “Aligning Innovation with Healthcare Stakeholder Needs.”
- The final session will address “Breaking Barriers—Key Factors for Driving Innovation in Transitional Care.”
Interested in joining the conversation?
