Living Labs Research Program

Our Living Labs Research Program is the engine room of our research.

We conduct innovative projects in different settings – in the wider community, in hospitals, and in residential aged care.

Our projects bring people with lived experience together with our best research and clinical talent to study some of the most complex challenges in healthy ageing, with an emphasis on optimising health and improving health and social care systems.

We place particular importance on at-risk communities, such as those experiencing dementia, drug and alcohol dependency, homelessness and other socioeconomic or cultural disadvantages.

Our impact

Our Living Labs program of research encapsulates a broad number of funded and partner projects delivering local, national, and international impact.

We are delivering around AUD$7 million in additional healthy ageing research which will:

inform new policy and system design
enhance health and care quality
augment workforce capability and
demonstrate significant research and clinical translation

We invest in major research projects through our Living Labs research program, working across four key themes

Living Labs projects across key themes

Healthy ageing across the lifespan View

Australia’s ‘Baby Boomers’ are drinking more alcohol compared to younger generations, often ignoring health warnings about the increased risk of a range of diseases such as cancer and dementia. A co-designed digital campaign is amplifying stories of positive alcohol culture change to address risky drinking practices.
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Australia's 'baby boomer' generation exhibits riskier drinking patterns than younger cohorts. In Victoria, alcohol-related hospitalisations for those over 65 have tripled in the past decade. This study of 1,059 people aged 50-70 years in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula area is examining how social isolation, loneliness, health challenges, and retirement concerns may be driving these risky behaviours.
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To increase bone and osteoporosis knowledge in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and empower them with long-lasting health impacts.
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People aged over 65 years access emergency care more frequently than younger cohorts but often their mental health needs are not initially identified or disclosed. Emergency departments are busy and often chaotic yet there is little evidence about how this setting may adversely impact on a patient’s psychological and emotional wellbeing. This project explored the key issues from both perspectives – older patients and healthcare professionals – to better understand and address the mental health of patients in emergency care.
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A safe, secure, and affordable home is essential for healthy ageing. Housing instability and homelessness leads to poor health from an earlier age, hospitalisations, greater chronic disease burden, and reduced life expectancy. 122,000 Australians are experiencing homelessness, including almost 20,000 older people (55 years or older).
Health services are well placed to identify people experiencing homelessness, and to link them with housing and other support services.
This project is delivering a novel evidence-based training and resource package for health professionals to better identify and support health and care for people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
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Each year, Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) are involved in more than 137,000 hospital admissions but it can take 18 years (on average) for somebody experiencing problems with a substance to seek treatment. Many then face barriers to remain engaged in AOD treatment.
Working closely with NCHA’s Data Platform team, this project sought to improve treatment journeys by identifying effective pathways for connecting and retaining patients in the AOD treatment system in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region.
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Carers of older people at home assist others to age in place, however many experience feelings of stress or being overwhelmed at times, and often do not make time to address their own health and wellbeing needs. So, who cares for the carer?
Launched in 2024 in Victoria’s Frankston / Mornington Peninsula region where 17 percent of the population is aged over 70 years, the ‘Carer Health and Wellbeing Service’ is a novel interdisciplinary service that aims to optimise the health and wellbeing outcomes of carers (aged 50+ years) of older adults (65+ years).
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Dementia View

Lower and declining activity levels are common for people with dementia – however they also likely contribute to a decline in physical and cognitive health, increasing the risk of chronic disease and falls, reduced quality of life, and social isolation. This study is developing and evaluating a new model of care to facilitate community-based physical activity engagement for people with mild dementia.
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Accurate diagnosis of dementia is critical to ensure the appropriate care of those in residential aged care – however it is estimated that 1 in 5 residents in Australia have undiagnosed dementia. This project is working with patients, carers, and providers to develop and implement improved methods to screen and confirm dementia, while also addressing stigma and ageism.
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Dementia is a leading cause of disability. Rehabilitation can help people living with dementia to maximise their independence and quality of life, and to do the things that are important to them. Many people with dementia miss out on opportunities to access evidence-based rehabilitation. This project aimed to explore barriers to accessing rehabilitation, and to co-design solutions to improve rehabilitation access via education and information.
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Having visual impairment alongside dementia can have quite an impact. It can compound the difficulties people living with dementia face, and unfortunately many are missing out on eye care for things such as regular eye tests, receiving sight-saving injections for eye diseases, having cataract surgery, or just replacing their glasses when they are broken or lost. This means there’s a strong role for optometry services in residential aged care to prevent sight loss, and to pick up eye conditions early that can threaten sight, and to organise prompt treatment.
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People with dementia often receive suboptimal hospital care due to difficulties communicating their needs and preferences. Existing tools to assist communication had limited uptake by health professionals. This study brought together health professionals, people with dementia and their carers to develop a solution to enhance hospital care.
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Hospital and home View

Health and care in aged care View

The leading cause of morbidity and mortality for people living in residential aged care homes is healthcare-associated infections. To effectively address this, a scalable approach is needed to tailor infection prevention and control processes for the residential aged care environment.
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Can pets cure loneliness for older adults living in residential aged care, and international university students? An Australian-first study, the Pets and People Program, explored the potential for animal-assisted activity programs to target and benefit two groups of people, whose high risk of loneliness and social isolation has been elevated, both during COVID-19 and beyond.
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Australia’s vulnerable group of older care leavers, who spent time in institutional care as a child, are now transitioning to aged care. Many suffered abuse and neglect during childhood and into adolescence. Now in their 60s and 70s, this group of so-called ‘forgotten Australians’ face the worrying prospect of returning to managed care which could ‘trigger’ painful memories. This study seeks to understand their aged care needs and advance a best practice model of care so they can stay in their homes longer and transition into more supportive models of residential care.
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Loneliness and social isolation are major challenges for more than 200,000 Australians living in residential aged care. A new social inclusion initiative, the Ciao! Program – which has been successfully trialled in more than 250 residential aged care facilities in Italy, Portugal and France – aims to enrich the lives of residents through positive experiences and digitally-enabled social connection.
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The Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety highlighted major problems and limitations with the current technology infrastructure and architecture for aged care. ⁽¹⁾ It called for increased investment in assistive and smart technologies to support and improve the quality of life of older people. This project is gathering evidence on design, technology, and workforce strategies to improve outcomes for older Australians in residential aged care.
⁽¹⁾ Reference: Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, (2021) Final Report Summary, p149. https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/aged-care
When aged care residents are transferred to and from hospital, sharing critical health information is essential for coordinated care. However, many providers face challenges with effective health information sharing due to inconsistent recording and quality of data, and inadequate technical infrastructure.
This project team has co-designed a digital health summary to improve the accurate sharing of critical resident health information during hospital transfers. This digital health summary is now being trialed in three Victorian residential aged care homes, Peninsula Health, Ambulance Victoria and general practice.
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A quality aged care system requires a healthy aged care workforce. The sector has a high workforce turnover, which raises concerns about the wellbeing of aged care workers.
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Living Labs Research Program