10 more projects pick up ARIIA grants

Technology in aged care projects have featured strongly among the latest Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia grant recipents.

This week, 10 recipients were awarded funding in the fifth round of ARIIA’s grants program, which aims to fund the development and translation of innovative projects that address important gaps in the aged care workforce’s capability and knowledge.

Among those winning projects targeting the priority area of technology in aged care are:

• Australian Catholic University and Amelo Dental for their project to increase the capacity of aged care workers, consumers and families to improve oral health
• Purple House, the Northern Territory Health Department, Territory Palliative Care and Australian National University for their pilot program – One last look – to provide community-based palliative care for Indigenous patients with end-stage renal disease
• Community Vision, Essity (Asaleo Personal Care), and National Ageing Research Institute for their proposal to improve continence management outcomes and staff skills through the use of new sensor wear technology
• Brenna Trading, Australian Catholic University, and OneCare for a digital mobile app that streamlines communication between registered nurses and family members of residents in aged care.

Collectively, the above projects also target the priority areas of end-of-life and palliative care, dementia, social isolation and staff burnout.

Several projects target staff burnout

Another grant recipient targeting staff burnout is a project from Tobruk Engineering, Flinders University College of Science and Engineering, Lifecare and Sage Automation. The collaboration will introduce a cost-effective, handsfree transfer system and integrated shower or day chair for aged care facilities to reduce staffing levels, injuries and patient discomfort.

University of Melbourne and Southern Adelaide Local Health Network have also received a grant related to staff burnout – along with dementia and mental health and wellbeing – for a staff-delivered music intervention project to address patient and staff wellbeing within a specialist advanced dementia unit.

Other grants recipients include:

• Alfred Health and Monash University’s project for an intervention trial project to enhance recognition, response and improved end-of-life care delivery for older people transferred from aged care facilities to emergency departments
• Barossa Village, University of Wollongong, Tanunda Lutheran Homes, Wheatfields RC, Kaylra Belair RAC, Australian Delirium Assoc, i2i Consulting, and Implementation to Impact Centre for their intervention project, They weren’t like this yesterday, which aims to improve delirium detection and care in aged care homes
• Concentric Health Services, University of Canberra, Estia Health and Macquarie University for their allied health reablement program for health and wellbeing optimisation in community and residential aged care settings
• Griffith University, Infinite Aged Care, Nutrition Professionals Australia, Way of Life Nutrition, and Monash University for the Aged Care Triage by Allied Health project, which will address malnutrition identification and risks for aged care facility residents.

These three projects collectively target the priority areas of end of life and palliative care, urgent and critical need, dementia, rehabilitation, reablement and restorative care, social isolation and meaningful lifestyle activities.

ARIIA research director Professor Sue Gordon said the standard of applications was again “very high”.

“We look forward to seeing how the grant recipient’s projects result in practical outcomes, and real-world solutions with efficiency and immediacy that was previously unheard of,” she said.

The ARIIA Grants Program consists of at least six rounds funded against key sector priorities of focus for the aged care sector that are revised each grant round. The recipients of Round 6 will be announced soon.

Ideas incubator grants closing soon

Meanwhile, round 2 of the ARIIA x MDPP Ideas Incubator – a joint initiative of ARIIA and Medical Device Partnering Program – is currently open. The program aims to support early-stage product or technology innovation ideas to be developed for the aged care sector. 

The program – which targets anyone who has an idea to solve a problem experienced in aged care – provides successful applicants with 250 hours of professional technical development expertise.

Applications close 8 September.

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