A bingo piece costing less than a dollar is probably not where most aged care operators would expect a conversation about 3D printing to begin. But at Orana Aged Care in Kingaroy, Australia, that is exactly the sort of small, practical use that has started people thinking about what else could be made on site.
Lutheran Services’ Orana introduced a 3D printer after Creative Programs and Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Harvey saw the potential for creating simple aids for residents. The home-produced pen holders, paintbrush grips, water bottle holders and customised bingo pieces, with material costs reported at around A$0.30 to A$1 an item.
For resident Kay Bochmann, the bingo pieces meant she could take part in the game again.
That is where this gets interesting for aged care. It is not about producing something cheaply. It is about being able to make something that works for one particular resident, rather than finding the closest available product and hoping it does the job.
A grip might need to be wider. A holder might need to sit at a different angle. Something attached to a wheelchair may need to be positioned differently for one person than another. With a 3D printer, those changes can be made without having to source another product each time.
Orana is not alone in exploring this. At the Good Shepherd Home–Raker Center in Pennsylvania, United States, occupational therapy students worked with 3D-printing students from Moravian University to develop individual aids for long-term care residents. Residents tested prototypes and designs were adjusted before the final item was produced. These included a smartphone stylus, gardening aid and a holder for a knitting loom.
In Washington DC, USA, residents at the Knollwood retirement community have also been introduced to 3D printing through a makerspace developed with the University of Maryland. In Singapore, older people at NTUC Health Active Ageing Centres have learned to design and print objects themselves.
That opens another use for the technology. It does not have to sit behind the scenes as a piece of equipment used by staff. It can also become part of resident activities, technology programmes and intergenerational projects.
Then there are the more serious applications. Researchers have been looking at 3D-printed texture-modified food for people with dysphagia, with the aim of producing food that is safe to swallow but looks more like the original meal. Other healthcare applications already include customised orthoses, prosthetic components and medical devices.
This is where the line starts to change.
There is a big difference between printing a bingo piece and printing something that affects a resident’s mobility, therapy or clinical care. The more important the function, the more important the checks around design, materials, durability, cleaning and professional assessment become.
The printer itself also needs some thought. Desktop filament printers can release ultrafine particles and volatile compounds while operating, so where the printer sits, how well the area is ventilated and what filament is used all matter in a care environment.
For New Zealand providers, this may be less about deciding whether to buy a 3D printer and more about looking at the small problems residents and staff are already trying to solve.
How often is a product almost right, but not quite? How often does someone stop doing an activity because they can no longer comfortably hold the equipment? How often is a simple item ordered when it could have been made to suit the resident?
A bingo piece is a very small start, but that may be exactly why the Orana example is worth watching. It shows how a relatively simple piece of technology can be used to solve very ordinary problems, one resident at a time.
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