Aged Care Insite Issue 106 | Apr-May 2018 | Page 11

news Aged care collaboration Online forum aims to unite innovative aged care minds. A new online innovation lab will give aged care professionals the chance to collaborate, share ideas and learn in an open forum. Launched by KontentLabs and innovAGEING, the initiative will be known as the innovAGEING Open Lab because of its ability to aggregate the resources and collective knowledge of practitioners, manager Merlin Kong said. “Consultation has already started around ranking and rating the industry’s key challenges, and KontentLabs’ expertise in fostering online communities will play an important role in establishing a solid foundation for the Open Lab to develop,” he said. “Australia’s ageing population presents an innovation imperative for the age services industry. Just as much as there is a productivity imperative for the industry, we need to better work with older Australians to develop services that they want to use and access. “The ability to learn, share and provide insight on aged care innovation is a driving and motivational force, and the Open Lab will become vital in not only reaching all stakeholders, but doing so quickly.” Kong said there was a growing need to accelerate innovation and collaboration in the industry to translate ideas into action, and achieve better outcomes for older Australians. KontentLabs executive producer Marc Niemes said innovation in healthcare almost always starts with frontline workers. “KontentLabs’ KommunityLab platform was built out of frustration that the best formal and informal knowledge was either locked away in people’s heads, or in restricted formal learning environments,” Niemes said. “The KommunityLab’s aim and passion is simply that any health or care worker is able to access the knowledge to deliver better care in three seconds or three clicks or less.”  ■ agedcareinsite.com.au 9