Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) today announced its Age Services Innovation Managers’ Program (ASIM).
Considered the first of its kind in Australia, the program has been designed in conjunction with LASA’s innovAGEING national age services innovation network.
“We’ve been at the forefront in promoting, curating and framing the sector’s innovation agenda over the last four years,” LASA CEO Sean Rooney, says.
“Our approach has always focused on helping aged care organisations change and transform to better care for older Australians and meet consumer expectations.
“Through our innovAGEING network we’ve seen greater innovation maturity in the sector and our innovAGEING National Awards winners and finalists are a testament to this.”
Rooney says although there has been a proliferation of innovation programs to date, most of these are external to the sector and have a heavy focus on innovation through a start-up lens.
“With ongoing sector reforms and pressures we feel that the time is right to deliver practical innovation training for the people who provide aged care services by experts who work within aged care services sector,” he says.
“Building on our expertise and enriched with sector specific content and case studies.”
The program will be delivered through five modules covering business model design, empathy and prototype skills, leading innovation, marketing innovation, and a capstone project exploring technologies such as AI, data, natural language processing and more.
Participants completing all five modules are formally recognised as an Age Services Innovation Manager by LASA.
Merlin Kong, interim director of LASA’s Centre for Workforce Development and Innovation, says that each module will be held over one-and-half-day workshops with post-workshop coaching sessions allowing for a tailored learning experience.
“The module workshops will draw heavily on our sector’s innovation experience and we’ll supplement this with broader innovation skills,” he says.
“We believe that you become an innovator by doing, so we’ve intentionally designed a hands-on program that involves applying ideas and skills to sector challenges and learning from sector innovation case studies.
“The age services sector is ready for a formal innovation tool kit and we’re here to provide this.
“Our hope is to skill-up age services organisations to solve the cause of their challenges and not just the symptoms.”
Module 1 begins on April 11, 2022. For more information visit the ASIM page on the LASA website.
