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“Our members did the exercises at home, on their own phones, in their own language — and they kept doing them. Seeing how they moved helped them understand.”
Social Impact Program Manager, JDC
JDC — the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee — supports older Jewish adults living at home across the former Soviet Union through its network of Hesed social-welfare centers. In a six-month program with about 500 members, JDC used OneStep to help them stay active, steady and independent at home.
Many of the older adults JDC serves live alone, far from in-person therapy, and see a Hesed caseworker only now and then. Their mobility can slip for months without anyone noticing, and with it their confidence and independence. JDC wanted a way to keep them moving between visits and to know how they were doing — without asking them to travel or learn complicated technology.
Members installed OneStep on their own smartphones, in Russian. Hesed staff handled onboarding; after that, almost everything happened at home. Each member recorded a short walk for a Walk Score and fall-risk check, answered a brief questionnaire, and followed a personal home exercise program in the app. On phones with motion sensors, OneStep also measured everyday walking in the background, so the Hesed manager could see changes as they happened.
More exercise, more improvement - members grouped by exercise days completed; the most active quarter improved at ten times the rate of the least active
Members kept at it. Those who exercised completed an average of 24 full exercise days — about 8 a month, against 1–3 for typical digital programs and about 4 for in-person physical therapy. Over the program, 86% maintained their function and 9% improved; only 5% declined, compared with the 20–25% typically seen declining each quarter in US senior living. One member, in her seventies and living alone, started inside the fall-risk zone on speed, cadence, step symmetry and double support; ten weeks later every one had moved outside it. And for the few who did decline, the Hesed manager could now see it and reach out in time.
Simple enough to use at home, engaging enough to keep using — and the results followed.
“For an older person living alone, staying steady on your feet means staying independent. The program lets us reach our members at home and encourage healthy movement.”
Social Impact Program Manager, JDC