A life for design - Sheffield Hallam University

26
Review
Research and business
Design for older people
Older generation,
modern innovation
27
Review
Research and business Design for older people
People from Sheffield have been talking about their
experiences of ageing as part of a global research
project, that explores the role design plays in promoting
quality of life for older people.
Hundreds of Sheffield’s
older people attended
engagingdesign, an
exhibition at Sheffield Hallam
University held in November.
The research, funded by the British
Council under the Prime Minister’s
CONNECT programme, has brought
together groups of older people in
Sheffield and Taiwan, to draw on their
experiences and to actively involve
them in designing future services
and products to promote well-being
in older age.
The three-year project is
underpinned by designers from
Sheffield Hallam’s Lab 4 Living
who are designing new products,
environments, services and systems
to reflect the way elderly people feel
their care can be improved.
Paul Chamberlain, head of the
Art and Design Research Centre
at Sheffield Hallam, said: “Despite
Britain’s rapidly increasing older
population, we have found that older
people often feel shut off from having
a say on what can be done to make a
difference to their lives.
“It is important not only to have
this global discussion but to begin
a complementary design process to
make the mechanisms of care more
intuitive and less dictatorial so we
can properly reflect the status of our
older population.
“Participants have described the
opportunities and concerns that
ageing presents and have shared their
ideas in terms of the potential role
that design might play in creating a
better future for all generations.
“We have held a series of exhibitions
and workshops in locations from
the Taipei Underground to the
Building Centre in London and found
differences and similarities in the
way older people are treated in the
two countries.
“It is clear that more needs to be done
to empower older people to better
manage their own needs in their own
environments.
“Our work is based on the premise
that older people offer a valued asset
to families, communities and society
and we have actively sought ways to
tap into the strengths.”
Exhibits included items designed to
provoke discussion about ageing. The
show also featured videos of older
people from Taiwan and Sheffield
sharing their experiences of ageing as
well as objects and design concepts
developed through the research.
“Participants
have described
the opportunities
and concerns that
ageing presents and
have shared their
ideas in terms of
the potential role
that design might
play in creating a
better future for all
generations.”
Paul Chamberlain