StandingTall: From seed funding to global impact
10 years of SPHERE: Success story 1
A modest SPHERE seed grant awarded in 2018 helped launch what has since become one of Australia’s leading digital fall prevention and rehabilitation programs for older adults.
Backed by an initial $40,000 seed funding grant through SPHERE’s Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addictions Clinical Academic Group, StandingTall has evolved from an early-stage research project into a nationally recognised digital health platform attracting millions of dollars in competitive funding and commercial investment.
Seed funding catalyst for success
Led by Professor Kim Delbaere from NeuRA and UNSW Sydney, the project was originally designed to address one of the biggest challenges in healthy ageing: how to make evidence-based balance exercises accessible to older people outside traditional face-to-face rehabilitation settings.
“SPHERE’s early seed funding was the stepping stone that allowed us to generate the first evidence and build the momentum needed to grow the program,” Prof Delbaere said.
“It helped position StandingTall for larger translational grants and ultimately enabled us to scale the program far beyond the original concept.”
The original project focused on developing a home-based digital exercise program aimed at reducing falls and improving functional outcomes in older adults. Over time, the scope expanded significantly, incorporating digital health development, implementation research and commercialisation pathways.
The app
The StandingTall app was developed through extensive co-design with older adults, ensuring it was both practical and user-friendly. Participants helped shape everything from navigation and font size to colour contrast and exercise progression, while also highlighting the importance of cognitive stimulation alongside physical activity.
“We know what works. The issue is making it easy and accessible for people to do it,” Prof Delbaere said.
“We don’t have the workforce for widespread supervised programs, so we explored how technology could provide a scalable, user-friendly solution.”
Clinical trials have since demonstrated impressive results. In one large study involving older adults aged 70 years and over, the app reduced fall-related injuries by 20 per cent over two years. More than half of participants were still using the app at the recommended level after the trial ended, a level of adherence rarely achieved in exercise programs.
A second SPHERE-supported project further expanded the program’s reach into cardiac rehabilitation. In 2020–2021, the team received an additional $30,000 through the SPHERE Frontiers Technology Clinical Academic Group’s COVID-19 + BEYOND Rapid Response Scheme to develop a comprehensive home-based virtual cardiac rehabilitation program integrated with the TeleClinical Care-Cardiac mobile health system.
The Virtual Cardiac Rehabilitation project adapted the existing StandingTall technology to support cardiac patients recovering at home, helping address barriers to rehabilitation participation during COVID-19 restrictions and beyond. The project also enabled early co-design work, refinement of the intervention and development of implementation strategies that positioned the program for integration into outpatient and community rehabilitation pathways.
Funding momentum builds
The success of the StandingTall research quickly attracted major funding. Since the 2018 seed grant, Professor Delbaere and collaborators have secured more than 15 additional competitive grants linked to the StandingTall program and its expansion into rehabilitation, dementia prevention, Parkinson’s disease management, stroke recovery and virtual care.
This year, the team secured a $500,000 Australia’s Economic Accelerator Ignite grant to support TCC-Rehab, an AI-enabled virtual rehabilitation program for older people. This year, the project has also attracted an international Flemish Research Fund grant valued at more than $1 million to improve implementation of fall prevention programs in community-dwelling older adults.
The program has also attracted several major MRFF and NHMRC grants. These include a $2.95 million MRFF grant for a Digital Home-Based Rehabilitation Program for Enhancing Health and Independence in Older People, a $2.99 million NHMRC-funded project supporting physical health care for people living with severe mental illness, and a $1.29 million NHMRC Development Grant that helped transform StandingTall into a commercial-ready digital health solution.
The project has now progressed beyond academia with the establishment of Ylva Health Pty Ltd to support commercialisation and long-term sustainability.
Thanks to this translational pathway, StandingTall is now available through the iOS and Google Play app stores, helping older Australians access personalised balance training directly from home.
The program has already informed virtual care delivery at more than 85 health services across Australia and the UK, while more than 300 clinicians have been trained to implement the program in practice.
Building on its success in falls prevention, the team is now adapting the technology for outpatient rehabilitation programs targeting people recovering from stroke, fractures, cardiac events and joint replacements. The app’s algorithms have also been expanded to support strength training, heart health and behavioural change strategies designed to improve recovery and long-term independence.
Prof Delbaere said the project demonstrates the power of investing in translational research early.
“What started as a relatively small seed-funded project has grown into a large-scale translational program with real-world impact,” she said.
“Our goal has always been to make evidence-based exercise accessible to as many people as possible, and SPHERE’s support helped make that possible.”