I would like to ask for a little information

Hello,

I came by this forum while looking for research material on the elderly, and I realize that this sort of request must be a fairly regular occurrence from students like myself, and I hope I am not being a nuisance or intruding in any way.

I am a university student majoring in design, and my current graduation project's theme is "Design for Aging Society." Since the field I aspire to is in product design, I am looking for clues that will let me find real problems that might be solved by a physical product.

Beyond my academic interest, I do hope to gain some understanding of what it is like to be twice my current age - I would ask my own grandparents, but my grandfathers had both passed away before I was old enough to really understand what death means, and neither of my grandmothers have really been all that open to conversation beyond how I'm doing in school and such.

Some context: I am Korean, and since my society has undergone some very drastic changes in the last half century, those who are elderly here today are probably very unlike those who will be attaining senior status within the next few decades. My paternal grandmother was very young when WWII ended and the Japanese occupation withdrew, and Korea was a very poor country until the last two decades or so. Korea's rapid climb out of poverty has drawn a very drastic cultural divide between those who have worked and raised families in a time where food and resources were scarce, and those who are doing so in a modern technocratic society. Combined with the cultural structure of respect for elders and a disinclination to associate freely with those of a different age group, I have found it fairly difficult to communicate frankly with seniors in my area - I realize this is a failure of my own ability to gather information as a designer, but I do think that the future senior demographic will more closely resemble the frequenters of this forum (those who are living in countries that were fairly advanced from their youth). I hope I will be able to garner some insight through this forum, if you would be inclined to share some of your own thoughts and observations about what being past a certain age is like with a young and somewhat socially awkward student.

So far I have gathered some basic principles in approaching design for the elderly, and I would very much appreciate it if you would point out the flaws in my conclusions or perhaps suggest factors I may have overlooked.

1. Health is important. The product design I create must support physical independence or at the least not impede it.

2. Do not equate "elderly" with "less able." Overtly specialized design may be more embarrassing than helpful to use, or worse impinge on #1.

That's actually it so far as far as basic principles go. Further observations I have made are these:
- The senior demographic is very social and hobby oriented.
- Many seem to keep pets
- Do not wish to appear infirm

That's about as far as I've got, for the most part. They're pretty general observations, but I might have got something wrong here.

Further questions I have are:
- Do many often function as caretakers for spouses?
- What is your relationship with your grandchildren like?
- What is the most important thing when you're past a certain age? Your children, your legacy, enjoying life, autonomy?
- What are your thoughts about monitoring systems in your home? I'm mostly talking about things like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW6cyse7hKg
Basically wiring up your home so that your movements are monitored by a computer program, and if you fall and don't get up or some such an alert is sent out to nearby hospitals. I've seen several examples of such home systems for the very elderly who live alone, and I was wondering how you would feel about the prospect of having this in your home in a couple more decades.

I would also like to know in general about how life is different from when you're say, 30 years of age. Little things, like the way you choose the clothes you buy, spend your free time, do housework etc. Or how your views on the world change, if they do.

Thank you for reading all of this, and again, my apologies if I have offended in any way. This project will quite probably be the only time I get to pick and choose what I want to create if I go into a professional design career, and I would really like to make something meaningful.

Thank you again,
Sunny

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

Your getting nowt out of me.

Basically wiring up your home so that your movements are monitored by a computer program, and if you fall and don't get up or some such an alert is sent out to nearby hospitals. I've seen several examples of such home systems for the very elderly who live alone, and I was wondering how you would feel about the prospect of having this in your home in a couple more decades.

I am a Luddite!.

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

You need alot of answers dont you.
Just to answer two or three for you. I am more than double your age and still fit and healthy. I walk alot and have always done so. I eat well and
dont eat junk food, so my ability to live is good as I have a very
positive attitude to life and I like my freedom of being fit at an old age.
My Grandchildren are beautiful but I do not see them other than on Skype
at the moment as they have emigrated so unless I travel to France to
see them - I dont. So Skype has become a big thing in my life as well
as social networks like Friends Reunited and Facebook. I do not Twitter.
So I keep my brain working by being active online but also doing as
much exercise as I feel like. I still have friends I have had for over 50 years
and new ones of course. I am interested in all the World but that sometimes becomes a burden with all the terrible things happening
to the World and you sometimes have to make your World smaller as
it can become more stressful to worry about millions of people and
animals and all their woes.
Hope your thesis goes well and good luck with it all.

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

(I did get the feeling that this sort of thing would mostly appeal to the children of the user in question, or to those who feel anxiety about their physical health.)

Luddite: one who fears or dislikes technology?

But you are using computers and presumably phones and other appliances. What is the specific part you would object to about this kind of home system?

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

Thank you very much, ma'am.

I do have very little understanding of what it is like to be old. I have tried engaging my grandmothers in general conversation, but they don't seem to like talking about themselves very much. It doesn't help that my father's mother is around 90 years of age now, and tends to repeat her statements a lot.

I have a tentative idea relating to interaction with grandchildren at a distance, something that would perhaps involve objects or displays that would reflect input from both sides and create the illusion of physical interaction. Like, interact with their playtime. Does that sound like the sort of thing that would seem interesting if one had young grandchildren?

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

I'm not quite at the elderly stage yet but I am disabled so many things would apply to me I guess. I would resist with passion anything that monitored my movements at any age ! BB is watching ? no thank you !

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

You can't put all more mature citizens in one convenient category. Some are past their sell by date in their 50s, others are still going strong in their 90s. I intend to carry on as I have always done, just being me.

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

Well you certainly slow down, and get tired more easily. My son who is 45 is noticing this, and it gets worse.
I don't stress out over housework, it gets done when I feel like it, or maybe an extra burst if I've got visitors coming.
In my 60's I've had an elderly mother in her 90's to be a carer to, and then we have expected to be on hand to look after grandchildren.
Have 11 grandchildren (but no longer a mother), I don't see them as often as I would like, they have school, friends and outside activities of their own.
Good health is a bonus, husband and I like to go indoor bowling and dancing together, and keep fit that way, we also like to go on holidays abroad about 3 times a year while we can, you never know what is round the corner.
My mum had a monitor pendant to wear incase she fell, sometimes she would forget about it, loss of memory is not good in the elderly.
Also Mum had a bed monitor which would go off if she spent more than 20 minutes out of bed - this proved to be more trouble than it was worth, and we had it removed.

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

Basically wiring up your home so that your movements are monitored by a computer program, and if you fall and don't get up or some such an alert is sent out to nearby hospitals. I've seen several examples of such home systems for the very elderly who live alone, and I was wondering how you would feel about the prospect of having this in your home in a couple more decades.



Mikaela darlin' - there is already a version of this - its called 'Care Link' - I have one. A small alarm device which can be worn either on the wrist or around the neck, which is connected to a 'phone service. Once the alarm is sounded, the care link staff alert relatives, neighbours or friends of the person who then come and investigate the reason for the alarm. If medical assistance is required then an ambulance can be called too.

Re: I would like to ask for a little information

In Canada we have the Lifeline system, same as Care Link.

Based on my mother's changing needs prior to moving to a long-term care home I would say that reliable, responsible, well-trained PSWs (Personal Support Workers) are of more interest that technology. Had we been able count on PSWs to show up and do their job when scheduled she would have been able to stay in her own home longer. Family did a lot of support and care too, but in the end we realized the safest option was long-term care.

She had assistive devices which certainly helped in the home. There are a lot of products on the Invacare website, and I'm sure you have already looked at all these things.

The only suggestion I have is to talk to Occupational Therapists or Physiotherapists, and you might get some ideas for a product or device.