Innovation in ageing

During tough times (such as illness, accident, sudden death, divorce, drought, natural disaster) there can be a breakdown between those in need and the people in their network who are able to ‘lend a hand’.

With the number of Australians over the age of 65 expected to more than double by 2055, Royal Commission issues, challenges understanding what’s working for who and when, we need to determine the levers for change and collectively work to support positive ageing and aged care.

The Housing Hub – (thehousinghub.org.au – THH) is a website dedicated to supporting people with a disability to find a home they would like to live in and providing a place for housing providers to list properties. It addresses a huge gap in the market with mainstream housing search platforms providing very little information on accessibility features.

In 2014-15, 27% of home care recipients aged 70 and over were from a culturally and linguistically diverse background. For those who do not have proficient English, care may not be equitable as it cannot always be provided by people who speak the same language.

The primary purpose of The Digital Story Project is to improve the quality of lives of aged care residents, by helping them feel valued and validated and by providing companionship. Additionally, the project advances the education of the volunteer students by providing firsthand experience working in an aged care facility. It also provides a valuable service for facility staff that enhances their knowledge of the residents.

The Kids Foundation – SeeMore’s Connecting Gen: Adopt a Grandbuddy (Grant: $37,500 a year for two years – 2021/2022 and 2022/2023) SeeMore’s Connecting Gen: Adopt a Grandbuddy is an intergenerational program designed to develop and enhance the emotional and physical wellbeing across two generations.

Support for the development of a new documentary film entitled: ‘Ticketyboo: A Walk with Dementia’ (Grant: $50,000) Ticketyboo is a social impact documentary exploring the deeply personal story of Renee Brack’s artist-father’s dementia.

Sharing Stories to reduce harmful gambling in Victoria and NSW (focus on older Australians) $70,000 The Alliance is a national advocacy organisation which works to prevent and minimize the harm from gambling.

Sustain: The Australian Food Network will partner with North Carlton Railway Neighbourhood House (NCRNH) to deliver a reimagined version of the ‘Around the Table’ community cooking and lunch program. Commenced in 2018, ‘Around the Table’ has become a vital activity for NCRNH members, a cohort of mostly older people often experiencing complex and interrelated disadvantage due to mental health, disability, isolation and financial difficulty.

In 2020 the Arcare Family Foundation supported Australia’s first National Telehealth Counselling and Support Service for residential aged care communities. Due to COVID-19, there was an immediate demand for a telehealth service and a greater need for more creative mental health care delivery models for residential aged care.

Arcare Family Foundation was delighted to contribute $15,000 to the Yellowbridge grant. This grant will provide Yellowbridge with the capacity to create high-impact, practical infection control and PPE training for the disability and aged care workforce using Enabler’s serious games and simulation training platform, to address the shortcomings of existing training.

Arcare Family Foundation donated $25,000 to the Harmony Bell at the Romsey Ecotherapy Park. More than ten years ago, a group of local community members (now known as Romsey Ecotherapy Park Inc - REP) came together with a vision to transform a derelict historic school site into a regionally significant special place to enhance health and wellness in nature for all ages and all abilities.

Arcare Family Foundation donated $50,000 to the Cabrini Focal Therapy Program for localised prostate cancer: Irreversible electroporation (IRE). IRE is a minimally invasive surgical technique used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It uses an electrical current delivered with precision to the previously diagnosed cancerous area to destroy cell membranes causing cell death and destruction of the cancerous tissue.

The $50,000 grant from the Arcare Family Foundation is helping WomenCan to test their model by offering participation in a Certificate III in Individual Support (Aged Care) at two metropolitan based and two regionally based TAFE.

Arcare Family Foundation donated $40,000 to Caladenia Dementia Care and My Dementia Companion. Based on the success and leveraging the innovative technology of the family version, Caladenia is collaborating with MyDC to create the world’s first digital dementia assistant for care professionals. This tool will help all professionals to support families more easily, help us to better align to Aged Care Quality Standards and Aged Care Royal Commission Recommendations, and ultimately improve care outcomes.