The collaboration will explore the importance of design and the role of innovation in aged care, disseminate RMIT research to the industry and collaborate on research translation and commercialisation initiatives.

And the partnership will also see RMIT Professor and director of the Design and Creative Practice Platform, Larissa Hjorth, join the forthcoming innovAGEING Experts-In-Residence program.

“We’re excited with this partnership,” said Merlin Kong, principal adviser for innovAGEING. “Having consulted with industry in developing innovAGEING, there was strong interest in translating research into practice and validating progressive models of care with research evidence.

“There was also interest in demand-driven design in aged care and developing sustainable new business models—in this regard, our alliance with RMIT marks a meaningful step in addressing ongoing industry interests.

“Aged care is a broad industry and RMIT is strategically positioned as a leader in cross-disciplinary, practice-based research with a focus on putting people first through innovative design and creative practice.”

RMIT deputy vice-chancellor Research and Innovation and vice-president, Professor Calum Drummond, said the university was proud to be working with innovAGEING to build links between academia and the aged care industry.

“It is said that if we design well, we are designing for all ages and abilities. Designing homes, environments and services so that people can transition through stages of life is about supporting independence and socially supportive environments.

“Within this context of design and innovation in aged care, we are applying technology and the arts to ageing and wellbeing projects, and this has proven to be powerful in helping organisations understand the experiences of those who are often the ‘subject’ of care.”

The new collaboration is not the first time that RMIT and innovAGEING have worked together, with the two organisations partnering with Peak15 HealthTech in September to co-host a meetup between start-ups and the aged care industry, attended by approximately 159 people.

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