on April 30, 2024
Every time an occupational therapist or care provider recommends a piece of assistive technology, they are putting their professional judgement behind it.
So a fair question to ask of any product is a simple one: is this built on something solid, or is it just a good idea with a nice interface?
At Harmonie Health, we take that question seriously, which is part of why we joined CSIRO's Innovate to Grow program in March 2024.
A team that already knows regulated health environments
Harmonie Health has a team that carries decades of combined experience building and running national health systems. In other words, we did not arrive at aged care, disability and assistive technology as newcomers. We arrived knowing how much rigour a health product needs before it belongs in someone's home.
What Innovate to Grow actually is
Innovate to Grow is an eight-week online program run by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, to help small and medium businesses plan genuine research and development. Since 2020 it has supported more than 800 Australian companies. Participants work with an R&D coach, expert facilitators and guest speakers to refine their core problem, test the viability of their idea, and build a research-informed business case.
For us, that structure was valuable precisely because it was demanding. It pushed us to be specific about who we serve and the problem we are solving: people living with early dementia, mild cognitive change or chronic conditions who want to stay independent in their own homes, and the families and care teams coordinating around them. It sharpened how we think about medication management, care coordination and shared visibility, and it connected us with mentoring we would not otherwise have reached, including a clinician mentor, a psychologist, who brought a clinical lens to how the product supports people at home.
Two outcomes mattered most. First, the program validated the direction we were taking, confirming we were solving a real problem in a way that stood up to scrutiny rather than assumption. Second, it shaped the product itself. The clinical perspective in particular influenced how the Harmonie Home Health Hub supports people through their day, so what families and care teams use now carries that thinking inside it.
Why this matters for the professionals who prescribe Harmonie
When you recommend Harmonie as part of a funded care plan, you are recommending a product from a team that chose to do the groundwork rather than skip it. That is the whole point of participating in a program like this. It is not a badge, and it is not a shortcut to credibility. It is evidence of a mindset: build carefully, stay curious, and let real research shape the product.
That is the standard we hold ourselves to, because the people relying on this technology deserve nothing less.
Want to know more about our Home Health Hub? Get in touch with our team today.
