Designing for elderly people

Designing for elderly people

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There are several requirements and guidelines to follow when designing for an older age group. Elderly require more thorough research when it comes to ergonomics since their bodies can’t afford to be in unergonomic positions for even a short time. Here you will find the requirements and guidelines we took into account when designing our Product-Service System.

 

•  “more home-like and adjustable settings appear more inviting for older people than clearly defined or highly controlled ones” (Shi et al., 2018)

• Provide:

  • a sense of control and access to privacy

  • Social support

  • Physical movement and exercise

  • Access to nature and other positive distractions

• 8 design principles:

  • motivating factors, physical factors, ease of supervision, microclimatic factors, safety, minimizing distraction, social interaction/privacy and maintenance (Bengtsson & Carlsson, 2013)

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Adjustments to equipment and the garden for older people (Gardening for Older People | Betterhealth.Vic.Gov.Au, 2014)

 

Garden spaces, tools and equipment can be modified or adapted to help reduce the physical stress associated with gardening for older people. Suggestions include:

• using vertical planting to make garden beds accessible for planting and harvesting – try using wall and trellis spaces

• raising beds to enable people with physical restrictions to avoid bending and stooping

• using retractable hanging baskets, wheelbarrows and containers on castors to make suitable movable and elevated garden beds

• finding adaptive tools and equipment – these are available from some hardware shops

• using foam, tape and plastic tubing to modify existing tools for a better grip

• using lightweight tools that are easier to handle

• providing shade areas for working in the summer months

• having stable chairs and tables to use for comfortable gardening

• making sure that there is a tap nearby or consider installing a drip feeder system for easy watering.

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Safety in the garden for older people (Gardening for Older People | Betterhealth.Vic.Gov.Au, 2014)

 

Safety tips that older people (and their caretakers) should follow include:

• Attend to any cuts, bruises or insect bites immediately.

• Take care in the use of power tools.

• Secure gates and fences if memory loss is an issue.

• Ensure that paths and walkways are flat and non-slip.

• Warm-up before gardening and encourage frequent breaks.

• Prevent sun exposure by working in the garden early in the morning or late in the day. Wear a hat and apply sunscreen frequently.

• Drink water or juice, and avoid alcohol.

• Wear protective shoes, lightweight comfortable clothes that cover exposed skin, a hat and gardening gloves.

• Store garden equipment safely.

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Therapeutic garden

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The therapeutic garden design focuses on increasing sensory stimulation by including a variety of plants to promote visual, olfactory and tactile stimulation. It could also attract insects and birds for more stimulation of the senses (Detweiler et al., 2012).

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Dementia

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requires all garden components to be edible, thus excluding toxic plants and pesticides.

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UI for elderly and people with various disabilities.

 

Since we want our service to be used in care homes, the app/website we will develop has to be optimized for elderly and people with disabilities. Though it should not be irritating to use for different user groups, such as working people in their 30s. 

Older adults are the primary users of tablets, they prefer them over smartphones due to the size and ease of use. Therefore, the app should be optimized for use on a tablet.

Older adults may have been around technology their whole adult lives, but there are certain physiological and cognitive changes that cannot be ignored. Think about loss of vision or a form of dementia.

One of the most common disabilities under elderly people is vision loss. To compensate for vision loss, there are several things to take into account: 

• Use high color contrast.

• The color blue tends to fade a bit when you get older, avoid using it.

• Text and buttons should be kept rather large.

  • The font size should be 16px or larger. Making the font on the website or app scalable would be optimal. 

• Sans-serif fonts are recommended for on-screen readability.