Innovative aged care projects receive funding boost

Eleven projects aimed at improving and enhancing the aged care sector have received a much-needed boost after the Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA) announced its second round of grants this week.

Projects include the development of a workforce training program to support caregivers during the last stages of life, improving discharge pathways for older people who have experienced short-term stays in rehabilitation, and optimising support for Chinese carers of people with dementia.

ARIIA Research Director, Professor Sue Gordon, recognised the impact and importance of the grants, particularly those that address urgent aged care needs in diverse cultural groups and regional areas.

“Once again, the standard of applications was high, and I am pleased that a couple of the projects will be undertaken to make a significant difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Australian Chinese community,” said Professor Gordon.

“ARIIA Grants enable aged care providers and research organisations to work together and partner with others to deliver improvements in areas of need, and as they must make a co-contribution to their project, they have a firm commitment to it.”

The ARIIA Grant Program was created to support the aged care sector by providing valuable funding that can be used to build an increased workforce capability and capacity. 

The key areas that have been identified as deserving attention and funding include dementia care, mental health and wellbeing, social isolation and urgent and critical needs like infection control and COVID-19.

You can view the full list of Round 2 Grant recipients here. 

BCR Communities (formerly Bay & Basin Community Resources) has received funding to support its values-based care plan that puts residents firmly at the centre of decision-making and their wellbeing.

Using technology developed by ExSitu, BCR Communities aims to provide all residents with a simple tool that can be used to create a hierarchy of values. 

Residents can identify important values and desires through online cards, with the information transferable into documents like support plans and Advance Care Directives. 

Executive Manager for Aged Care Services at BCR, Lorraine Williams, said the funding will also enable them to implement technology into their aged care practices to further learn more about their residents.

“Already we’ve started to roll out ExSitu because it also influences the advanced care plan if the resident wants to develop one after we’ve established the hierarchy of values, and we can see that using technology empowers them,” said Ms Williams.

“Often people think that older people don’t actually know how to use technology, but there are definitely those that do.

“We’ve actually started our own online community via an app, similar to Facebook, where our clients and our staff can all communicate with each other, share photos and see what they’re doing.”

Ms Williams said the research will also look at how the technology can be used to benefit their workforce and workflow as the demand for their services increases.

“Our community has grown,” said Ms Williams. 

“As we see the changes that are happening in aged care, as an organisation, we have to look at ways to stay active within that changing aged care environment.

“Identifying values through ExSitu will be the centre of how we develop our support plans, but also we want to see how we can actually improve that process because everything up to now has been very much paper-based and looking at how we can use technology to support that.”

Research set to be implemented quickly

For some of the projects named, there will be a quick turnaround in their implementation. Some, such as HammondCare’s Advance Project, have already begun and the ARIIA funding will assist in refining and improving the toolkit.

The Advance Project is a toolkit designed to support residents with dementia by providing nurses, care workers, allied health staff and General Practitioners (GPs) with easy access to palliative care and end-of-life support resources.

Launched last August, almost 1000 users have already registered to access, or have accessed, the free resources.

HammondCare General Manager Health and Palliative Care, Dr Andrew Montague, said the additional funding means they can now fine-tune the program for the benefit of residents living with dementia.

“These resources, specifically designed to support our residential and community aged care professionals, can help deliver palliative care to those most in need and relieve needless suffering,” said Dr Montague.

The information gleaned from The Advance Project’s rollout in two residential aged care homes will be used to improve resources, training and organisational processes that can be adopted in advance care planning and palliative care across the sector.

That research should be available early next year as each project has a 12-month timeframe that Professor Gordon said is going to deliver real-time benefits for aged care providers.

“This is such a refreshing change, as historically, it takes around 17 years to translate research discovery and evidence into practice, and even then, only about 14% of research evidence is fully implemented and integrated,” explained Professor Gordon.

“I 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.”

Providers involved with other projects still have time to benefit from the ARIIA Grant Program as Round 4 grant applications close on 17 February 2023. Meanwhile, Round 3 recipients will be announced shortly.

For the full list of Round 2 Grant recipients, and to learn more about how to apply for a grant, visit ariia.org.au.