University of Surrey spin-out boosts kids' social skills and fights loneliness in older people
A new spin-out from the University of Surrey could offer support to the three in four children worldwide who lack the socio-emotional skills they need for the future. ConnectPlayWise Ltd is on a mission to rebuild the foundations of learning social and emotional skills through educational gaming – and now that mission has received a £300,000 funding boost from Innovate UK.
The ConnectPlayWise platform allows children aged 7–12 to connect safely with older adults – for example grandparents living in a different country or lonely people in care homes – by playing fun, interactive mini-games together. Adults on the platform undergo enhanced DBS checks and digital identity verification, with controlled onboarding to ensure every match is appropriate for the relationship context. These games not only improve socio-emotional skills in the young people, but also help reduce isolation in older adults, offering a purposeful, playful way to connect across generations. Based on insights from psychology, education and tourism, the platform helps solve social scourges at opposite ends of the age spectrum by building intergenerational understanding, learning and friendships.
ConnectPlayWise is supported by Innovate Surrey Limited, which leads the University of Surrey's technology transfer, commercialisation and spin-out support for our research academics. The team is collaborating with Safe in Our World, an organisation who strives to create and foster worldwide mental health awareness within the video game industry.
The £300,000 follow-on funding from Innovate UK (ICURe Exploit, FY24 Round 4) will bring the intergenerational platform to market. The learning platform is developed in collaboration with PlayerThree and currently entering the beta testing stage.
Dr Brigitte Stangl, Founder and CEO of ConnectPlayWise and Associate Professor in Tourism at the University of Surrey, said:
"Every parent and teacher knows children need to learn how to share, listen and manage their emotions – but with teacher shortages, overwhelmed parents and long waits for therapy - there are fewer adults and less time to help them practice essential life skills. Meanwhile, older people in care homes or living far from family often go days without a meaningful conversation.
"Our platform brings them together through simple games they can play on screen. A child in Guildford can play with their grandmother in Poland. A Year 4 class can connect with residents at a local care home. Every adult is DBS-checked and identity-verified before they can take part – and the games give children a safe space to build social skills, while giving older adults something to look forward to."
The spin-out builds on previous Games and Innovation Nexus (GAIN) funding and a full journey through Innovate UK's multi-stage ICURe programme (Discover, Explore and Exploit). The team is currently seeking beta testers and further funding for their services – including opportunities for branded or sponsored mini-games.
Sarah Sorrell, Charity Director of Safe in Our World, said:
"Partnering with ConnectPlayWise means investing in more than education: it's about bridging generations, fostering empathy and creating moments of joy that enrich lives on both sides. Through playful, meaningful interactions, children and older adults not only learn from each other, they grow together."
The platform aims to reduce loneliness in care homes and improve resident satisfaction, while also providing schools with a low-cost, in-house solution for delivering social-emotional learning (SEL). For families, it offers an affordable tool to support children's mental wellbeing.
The platform also aligns with government priorities across education, mental health and elderly care and is particularly valuable for reaching rural or underserved communities where SEL support is limited.
On the global stage, ConnectPlayWise contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and could help lower the UK's long-term mental health costs – currently estimated at £117.9 billion annually.
ConnectPlayWise is expected to launch its first product in early 2026. The team is actively seeking schools, families and care homes interested in participating in trials or early pilots.
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Note to editors:
Funding source: Innovate UK – ICURe Exploit Follow-on Funding FY24 Round 4 (£300,000)
The GAIN programme aims to connect capability between the two largest gaming clusters outside of London: Surrey (Guildford Games Cluster) and Warwickshire (Silicon Spa). The University of Surrey, in partnership with the University of Warwick and University of Creative Arts (UCA), will leverage GAIN to strengthen connection between the universities and games & CreaTech industry, foster collaboration and drive creativity and growth in the sector.
The website connectplaywise.io is for individuals and there is a separate section “for partners”
High-res images and logos available on request.
UOC designs groundbreaking intervention to enhance the self-determination of young people with intellectual disability
The research project focuses on the family as a crucial factor in boosting affected individuals' decision-making abilities
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Between 0.7% and 1.5% of people in developed countries are estimated to suffer from intellectual disability (ID). In Spain, this is equivalent to over 400,000 people. The term intellectual disability refers to a set of significant limitations in intellectual functioning and learning that manifest before the individual's 18th birthday as a result of genetic, acquired (congenital and developmental), environmental and sociocultural factors.
A study led by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is now seeking ways to empower young people and adolescents with ID by boosting their self-determination "to enhance their decision-making and goal-setting skills, act independently and purposefully and trust their own abilities," said Sergi Fàbregues, a researcher at the Nutrition, Food, Health and Sustainability (Nutraliss) group at the UOC’s eHealth Centre.
“Many families report not knowing or not fully understanding the concept of self-determination, which is often confused with autonomy”
The study, Development of a family-centered intervention to support self-determination in adolescents and young adults with intellectual disability in home environments: Protocol for a multistage mixed methods design, is an innovative international research project that will lead to the design of an evidence-based intervention, providing the families of young people and adolescents with ID and the professionals who work with them with strategies to enhance their self-determination.
To carry out the study, the researchers will recruit families with an adolescent between 16 and 22 years old with intellectual disability and mild or moderate support needs who attends a special education school. The study, which will employ both qualitative and quantitative methods, will be carried out in three stages: an initial stage involving structured interviews and using the photo elicitation technique with families to find out how they support self-determination at home; a mapping stage in which the young people, families and professionals involved will identify possible practical strategies to boost their self-determination at home, and a final stage involving the design of a family-centred intervention.
"Several studies have shown that increasing self-determination improves the quality of life of people with ID in areas such as academic performance, emotional well-being and employment prospects. On a personal level, self-determination fosters their autonomy and helps them make decisions, set goals and gain a better understanding of the consequences of their actions. All this can only be achieved with the family's crucial involvement and appropriate support," said Fàbregues, a UOC researcher and leader of the project, which includes researchers from institutions such as Canada's Memorial University of Newfoundland, Colombia's Universidad del Norte, and Spain's University of Navarra, University of Zaragoza, Comillas Pontifical University, University of Deusto and University of Barcelona.
The family context, a key factor in self-determination
The family environment has been shown to be crucial in enhancing self-determination among young people and adolescents with intellectual disability. Parents shape their children's behaviour and interactions from early childhood, a role that is particularly important for individuals with ID: "Their families help them develop skills such as problem-solving, defending their opinions and setting goals. They also make decisions regarding their children's learning opportunities and create environments that can either support or restrict their self-determination. In the case of young people and adolescents with ID, family plays a particularly significant role, because these individuals face barriers not encountered by their peers," said Fàbregues, who is also a member of the UOC's Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences.
Examples of strategies that can be helpful in fostering the self-determination of individuals with ID include arranging spaces at home to enhance autonomy; giving them choices, such as what to have for a meal or where to go on a family outing; allowing them to make everyday decisions; helping them set personal goals, whether in relation to household chores or for work or education; and expressing satisfaction and praise for their achievements, such as tidying their room without prompting, making a meal or making a decision for themselves.
After the first interview, families will be asked to take photographs of situations that help increase their children's self-determination, which they will later explain to the research team. "We use this technique – photo elicitation – because, while the first interview provides a general overview, the photographs help us discuss specific examples. This is very useful for identifying specific strategies that can later be used to design the intervention," said Fàbregues.
A useful guide for families and professionals
The project has already started, with 15 families interviewed so far. The plan is to design an intervention proposal in the form of a practical and family-friendly guide over the coming year. "We want to publicize these strategies, as many families report not knowing or not fully understanding the concept of self-determination, which is often confused with autonomy. Another goal is therefore to help them understand the true meaning of self-determination, so that they can support their children in further developing this ability over time."
The next step will be to carry out a new study to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the intervention and its reception by families. The research project has been registered in the Open Science Framework (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/M94DX).
This research project is aligned with the UOC's mission on Education of the Future and contributes to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, Health and Well-being, and 10, Reduced Inequalities.
Journal
PLOS One
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Development of a family-centered intervention to support self-determination in adolescents and young adults with intellectual disability in home environments: Protocol for a multistage mixed methods design
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