Test your strength and balance at home with the "Up&Go" app

Struggling to walk often starts to set in gradually as you get older, and it's not always noticed in time by those affected or their relatives. So it's important to keep an eye on your own mobility and to take action in good time in order to remain independent for as long as possible in your later years.

For this purpose, employees at Heidelberg University Hospital, in partnership with mHealth Technologies in Bologna and the TSG ResearchLab, have developed the "Up&Go" app, which has been designed to test how mobile older people are. Using it is child's play: all you need is the app installed on a smartphone, a chair, some space and a marker, such as a bottle. With the smartphone in your front trouser pocket, you simply stand up from a chair, walk around the marker on the floor, then go back and sit down again. A total of five test rounds are conducted. Immediately after the test, the results are shown in a way that is easy to understand, and a corresponding recommendation for action is suggested.

However, the "Up&Go" app is not only useful for older people or their family members – coaches, physiotherapists, medical practices and care facilities can also benefit from using the app in everyday life with patients for mobility checks.

The "Up&Go" app, which has been available from the Apple Store since this summer, can be downloaded free of charge. The app does not store or transmit any data. The development team welcome any feedback on the app – please simply send an email to info@tsg-researchlab.de.