Project Overview

The median population age for many European countries, China and North America is increasing, which shifts financial, emotional and infrastructure burdens of care to an increasingly smaller proportion of caregivers. Governments, care organizations, and affected family members are seeking new ways of optimizing the lives of older persons within limited resources. Transitions experienced as people grow older (e.g., spousal loss, moving, health incidents) are challenging, yet designed things can offer support. This project's goal is to mobilize knowledge about explicit design interventions that can improve and/or change little things that make a difference in how well older persons adjust and cope with new (and sometimes old) circumstances. Our objective is to highlight everyday situations within near and built environments that offer combinations of care, emotional well-being, safety, and recipient acceptability, while presenting possible solutions. We will co-create five short illustrated films emerging from fifteen years of ethnographic research into how older persons and those with disabilities interact within built environments. The films will be intergenerational co-creations with caregivers, older persons, research students, and student illustrators. They will be shown and vetted within care communities in ethnically diverse locations for refining and improving upon them through an iterative and collaborative process. Highly qualified personnel will be mentored and will develop their own research interests within the project. We understand that older persons are neither homogeneous in culture, ethnicity, religion, nor in the degree to which they need care, physical, and emotional support. Therefore, these films address cultural needs and differences while creating an awareness of the relationships between older persons and designed things including assistive technologies. The films will be made available in several languages to caregivers, schools, governments and the general public in Canada and elsewhere as educational materials and points of discussion into aging well.