A cutting-edge collaboration between North Eastern Community Hospital and the ARIIA x MDPP Ideas Incubator has resulted in several novel prototyped food cutters, enabling kitchen staff to deliver precise IDDSI Soft and Bite-Sized portions (1.5 x 1.5 cm) for residents facing swallowing and chewing challenges.
Through 250 hours of technical expertise from the Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP) and 30 hours of commercial research via Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA), the project produced three prototypes for North Eastern Community staff to begin trials that can potentially deliver safer, faster, and more consistent food preparation. The prototype cutting tools have potential applications across residential aged care, hospital, disability home care, palliative care, meal delivery services and childcare.
Cara Miller, CEO of North Eastern Community Hospital, praised the program’s role in assisting the service diversification goals of their organisation. “We’re being innovative and really thinking about where diversification of our services comes from, but always making sure compliance, our patients, and residents remain at the forefront of decision-making.”
“The Ideas Incubator provided essential support to advance our concept from an initial idea to functional prototypes. Access to design expertise and structured feedback cycles accelerated development and ensured the innovation was grounded in real-world user needs,” said Cara.
She emphasised that food must remain “appealing, safe, and recognisable,” and was pleased involvement in the Ideas Incubator program fostered kitchen team engagement, through the co-design process, helping to build confidence and ownership from the staff in the new tools.
Cara added, “Investing in your workforce to find easier ways to do their jobs means they’ll thank you for it—you’ve got to keep moving forward or you’re out of the game.”
While the ARIIA x MDPP Ideas Incubator program has now concluded, projects like this demonstrate its enduring legacy in transforming aged care innovation.
Professor Karen Reynolds, Director of the Medical Device Partnering Program, explained, “The MDPP’s technical expertise enabled rapid prototyping tailored to aged care needs, bridging the gap between novel ideas and practical solutions.”
Joanna-Lee Tan from ARIIA added, “ARIIA’s commercial research identified strong market potential across aged care- both in-home and residential, hospital disability services, and potentially childcare sectors—this is a simple, practical tool addressing a common challenge in food preparation around the world with benefits to people living with swallowing difficulties as well as improving the quality and safety of food preparation and delivery Looking ahead, North Eastern Community Hospital plans to refine the prototypes for enhanced durability, ease of cleaning, and versatility across food types, alongside internal demonstrations and manufacturing partnerships.
Cara reflected, “Participation in the ARIIA x MDPP Ideas Incubator enhanced our capability in innovation processes—it’s refreshing to work with skilled teams to find solutions we otherwise wouldn’t have achieved. We’re considering further investment for a manufacture-ready prototype; there’s significant work ahead, but this program has given us a clear pathway.”
The ARIIA x MDPP Ideas Incubator exemplifies transformative collaboration to solve problems in aged care, proving these programs extend far beyond immediate solutions to build lasting capability for the aged care workforce and confidence in service provision for aged care providers.