Now we are in the process of expanding beyond the conversations with our 5 pilot participants, by talking to a variety of family, friends, and professional supporters. Then we can build up an understanding of the different types of support roles that people play and how they could be supported by STRETCH. Over the next 3 months we will also start showing the pilot participants some of our proposed sensor and wearable technologies, to determine the acceptability and perceived usefulness of the technologies. We will stress that the technologies are not intended to replace human contact, but to help individuals and their circles of support to be more resilient – for example, to catch support tasks that have not been completed, or to encourage sharing and communication amongst different circles of support, where appropriate.

We are still collecting responses to a survey on informal support for older people. This survey aims to fill a gap between formal volunteering and primary carers, by understanding the motivations and experiences of people who are more peripheral in a circles of support system – e.g. neighbours or acquaintances who provide more casual support. Please feel free to complete or circulate this survey if applicable to you or people you know: https://exetercles.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6MztNE2TpEZD84B