Thursday, June 24, 2010

Elderly Challenge - Observation 4


I observed that many elderly people have difficulty hearing, thus it is very dangerous and risky when they go outdoors. One such example is that they cannot here cars on the road easily, increasing the possibility of an accident. They need others to be around them or hearing aids to alert them of dangers. This also makes communication troublesome and slow as the person speaking to the elderly may have to repeat what he said for the elderly to hear and understand what he is saying more clearly.


Acknowledgement:
http://www.whcenter.org/body.cfm?id=557038

Monday, June 21, 2010

Elderly Challenge - Observation 3

I observed that many elderly people have difficulty in getting out of bed as they are not as fit as they used to be. They have to either rely on someone else to help them or go through the trouble of accomplishing the task. Therefore, I came up with a design for the interior of homes (refer to holiday homework 3) to help the elderly get out of bed without the help of another person so when no one is around to help, the elderly can get themselves out of bed with ease.


As you can see, the bed is elevated high above the floor so the elderly can get seriously injured if they fall while trying to get out of bed and that since the side of the bed that we sleep on is horizontal, the elderly will have a difficult time getting out of bed as they have to lift up their upper body for a relatively large degree first.



Designs for the interior of homes for the elderly

Getting out of bed

I have come up with a bed which can fold. When the person wants to get out of bed, he just needs to press a button. The upper part of the bed will fold upwards and at the same time, the entire bed moves backwards so the person will still be at the same position but he will be sitting upright. Thus, he can get out of bed without much effort.


If the person wants to go back to bed, he can just push another button, so there are only two buttons on the controls, thus it is very user-friendly.


There is also a board above the controls for the bed so the person can use that as a support while attempting to stand up by putting his hand on the board and applying effort on it so it is easier to stand up.


There is a small mattress on the floor next to the bed so when the person is standing up, he will be less likely to slip and fall on the floor. Even if he does, since the mattress is soft, it will reduce his injuries.


Getting from one storey to another

Instead of having to climb a staircase, the person can move from one storey to another by being carried up or down on a movable platform. This is safer and faster than climbing a flight of stairs. There will be a remote which the elderly person will use to control the platform’s movement. There will be a detector attached to the bottom of the platform so whenever someone or an object is under the platform, the detector will make a sound to alert the user that there is something beneath the platform and the platform will not move until the object or person is no longer under it.





Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Elderly Challenge - Observation 2

Eyesight problems

I observed that the elderly’s eyesight is not very good and in some cases, deteriorate so drastically that they require medical treatment. It is very troublesome to not be able to see clearly unless the person is optimistic about life. It is also expensive to go for a medical treatment so that is a problem for poor people. Some things we can do is to help them navigate and guide them towards their destinations. We can also donate to organisations which subsidize healthcare services.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Elderly Challenge - Observation 1

Walking difficulties
I observed that an elder had trouble walking and needed a caregiver to support her. I think we can help them to walk to their destination by supporting them and warning them of obstacles such as drains which are not covered. We can also reduce the risk of the elderly accidentally injuring themselves due to such obstacles by reducing the number of obstacles. This idea can be incorporated into the design of homes so they are more elderly-friendly.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Understanding the "The Elderly Challenge"

Explain in your own words, the FOUR key recommendations of the report.

1) Housing for Seniors: Elder-Friendly Housing
This recommendation is to help the elderly to meet their needs and live with their families and the community without many of the difficulties which the elderly have to face.


2) Accessibility for Seniors: Barrier-Free Society
This is to make the transport system of our country's infrastructure more elderly-friendly so the elderly can reach their desired destinations safely and without much disruption.


3) Caring for Seniors: Holistic and Affordable Healthcare and Eldercare
This is to provide more services to meet the needs of the elderly and make the services more accessible and affordable.


4) Opportunities for Seniors: Active Lifestyles and Well-Being
This is to help the elderly lead a more active and healthy lifestyle in which they get involved in activities related to the community and have better relationships with their family members and the people in the community. It is also for teaching and encouraging people to have a better attitude towards ageing and the elderly.


State ONE way that the CAI report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly

HDB has various schemes in place so as to ensure that the elderly can live in an environment which they are familiar with with minimum disruption of their lives.

State TWO ways on how we can ensure that the quality of elderly care here in Singapore is affordable

We can contribute to foundations that subsidize the cost of elderly care services by donating to them.
We can build our own common fund for helping to subsidize the cost of elderly care services through the donations from the people of the community who are willing to help.

After reading the CAI report, what do you think are the THREE things that you can do, as an SST student, to help overcome these elderly challenges

I think I can help to physically support an old man to overcome physical obstacles such as staircases and roads.
I think I can gather committed people and get them to help me raise funds for donation to charities for the elderly.
I think I can conduct some research in which I observe, record, analyse and conclude about the problems that the elderly face so I can come up with an invention to address the needs of the elderly.