Helping you stay active with the Good Boost programme

We chatted to Ben Wilkins, osteopath and MSK champion, to find out more about the Good Boost social enterprise programme.

Here he tells us how exercise can make a real difference if you're living with arthritis — and how technology can offer a helping hand. 

How did Good Boost begin?

"After university, I set up a small community research project in Oxford. I wanted to see if using public pools for arthritis exercise sessions could work. Back then it was all paper based and completely analogue.

Alongside this project I worked for a social enterprise designing and delivering community exercise programmes for older adults. These combined and developed into what Good Boost is today.

When the research project was set up, our goals were to support people on waiting lists for surgery in a local community setting to take part in aqua rehab exercises together.

From research, we knew these people were experiencing pain and would benefit from self-management programmes to help manage their condition."

What does the Good Boost programme hope to achieve?

"We’re working non-stop to achieve more and support more people in more places.

We were initially using exercises cards for people.

Then we were awarded some funding and we worked with an artificial intelligence (AI) company to build an algorithm, which included a detailed knowledge map of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions and relevant exercises.

The result is the programme can easily produce exercise recommendations based on individual needs at any pool on the planet.

Technology is core to our mission to create accessible and affordable community MSK services to support people’s health, happiness, and well-being.

Our technology ensures that we offer the same quality Good Boost sessions for everyone, everywhere."

What's next for the Good Boost programme?

"We want to make sure we continue supporting people living with arthritis. To achieve this, we’re being funded by Innovate UK to develop a home-exercise app powered by Good Boost’s AI.

To make sure we build something that’s fit for purpose, we’ve been running video-call focus groups with people living with musculoskeletal conditions who are connected with Versus Arthritis, the National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society, National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society and Arthritis Action.

Understanding the problem and being led by people who’ll use our technology and co-designing it with them is at the foundation of everything at Good Boost.

We’ve re-trained our AI for land rather than aquatic exercises, so that every participant has an individually tailored exercise programme that adapts and evolves with feedback just like at our pools."