STICHTING TANTELOUISE

Their core work

TanteLouise is a Dutch care foundation based in Bergen op Zoom that provides care services and real-world living environments for older adults. In EU research projects, they function as an end-user and implementation partner, offering access to elderly residents, care settings, and lived experience that technology developers cannot replicate in a lab. Their contribution spans both preventive digital health (monitoring age-related impairments, reducing social exclusion) and active rehabilitation (VR-based physical activity for patients recovering from chronic conditions). They bridge the gap between technology prototypes and actual deployment in care environments.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TanteLouise's two projects started in consecutive years (2021 and 2022), so the timeline is short — but the keyword shift within that window is meaningful. Their first project (SMILE) is oriented around systemic care issues: smart home infrastructure, health system integration, social exclusion, and chronic illness monitoring. Their second project (VR2Care) moves toward immersive technology: virtual reality, embodiment, natural interfaces, and multiuser rehabilitation. The direction is clear — from passive digital monitoring toward active, immersive interventions that engage older adults physically and cognitively.

TanteLouise is moving toward immersive and interactive digital health — VR, embodied interfaces, and active rehabilitation — suggesting future partnerships in extended reality, human-computer interaction, and active ageing technology are a natural fit.

How they like to work

TanteLouise has never led a project — they join as a participant in every case, consistent with a care organization that contributes real-world access and end-user populations rather than technical research capacity. Despite only two projects, they have engaged with 21 distinct partners, suggesting they join large, multidisciplinary consortia — likely because their role (care setting access, patient recruitment, implementation validation) is sought out by tech-heavy teams that need a grounded care partner. They appear to take different partners each time, indicating willingness to work across different consortia rather than clustering around a fixed network.

TanteLouise has built connections with 21 unique partners across 9 countries in just two projects — an unusually broad reach for a small foundation, reflecting the large consortium structures typical of RIA and IA funding schemes they participate in. No strong geographic concentration is evident from the data.

What sets them apart

TanteLouise occupies a rare position in EU research consortia: a real care provider, not a university or consultancy, that brings actual elderly residents and functioning care environments to technology projects. For any consortium developing digital health, assistive technology, or rehabilitation tools for older adults, they offer something that no tech partner can supply — a live deployment context and direct access to the target population. Their dual presence in both preventive health monitoring (SMILE) and VR rehabilitation (VR2Care) makes them relevant to a wider range of technology partners than a single-topic end-user organization.

Highlights from their portfolio

• VR2Care
  Highest-funded project (EUR 199,375) and the most technically ambitious — combining multiuser virtual reality, embodiment research, and natural interfaces specifically for physical rehabilitation of older adults, a frontier where few care organizations operate.
• SMILE
  Addresses the systemic challenge of ageing-in-place by integrating digital prevention and prediction into smart living environments, directly targeting social exclusion and chronic illness management — a broad real-world impact scope.