Taking on PhD students to conduct research in partnership with your company has proven benefits for multiple stakeholders: industry, research students and universities.
Ai Group Queensland member, Trisco Foods, has been highly impressed by the recent work of a PhD student from the University of Queensland, who they funded to review the delivery of food fortification strategies and the challenges and enablers for the long-term sustainability of these strategies in residential aged care.
Fortified foods are foods that have extra nutrients added to them, without increasing the serving size. Examples include breakfast cereals, bread, flour, margarine, dairy and plant-based milk alternatives, juices, and baby foods. Food fortification is a nutrition support strategy used in aged care homes, as part of a food-first approach. Food service staff fortify menu items using common kitchen ingredients and commercial fortification ingredients.
The student aimed to determine the feasibility of using a meal assessment tool to measure aged care residents’ opinions on fortified food and beverages, to identify what foods are the best vehicles for fortification. She also aimed to find whether food fortification ingredients were easy to use, economical, acceptable and versatile for food service staff in residential aged care settings.
It was found that a novel liquid fortification ingredient was a versatile and acceptable nutrition support strategy for aged care residents, and staff reported improved ease of use, learning and satisfaction compared to a traditional powder fortification ingredient. The study also found that the role of food services in aged care was supported by an identified leader that champions nutrition, a workplace culture that values continuous improvement and provides training opportunities for staff, and has a strong and explicit focus on resident-centred care using a food-first approach.
The research also found that nutrition support needs to be personalised to each resident and aged care homes need to provide more options. More clarity around nutrition support in residential aged care through the Aged Care Quality Standards would support this.
Trisco Foods was highly impressed by the student’s findings, insights and recommendations. She provided tangible, actionable data that could make a difference if implemented in practice. She also used a Trisco product which promises some strong commercial outcomes and will now be scaled by the company.
Mike Tristram at Trisco said that the PhD student’s findings for health and aged care are at a high level and that government and the broader industry would benefit from understanding the research and recommendations. Trisco is happy to share the findings with interested parties.
For further information on Trisco’s experience, or to discuss opportunities to take on PhD students for your own research, please contact Anne Younger.
