2017
Woonzorg Flevoland has asked me to design an object that improves the communication between the elderly and young people. The gap between the generations has become very large and to tackle this problem I first had to investigate the core of the problem.
Research
I went to the nursing home “De Uiterton” in Lelystad. I spoke with residents about the connection between the elderly people and the youngsters.
I came to the conclusion that the elderly no longer like to go outside because they are ashamed of their walker or wheelchair. They no longer feel "themselves" and therefore stay off the street.
To get to know why young people don’t get in contact with elderly people, I also conducted interviews and surveys with this generation. The result of this research was also that young people no longer encounter the elderly in daily life.
Design
Communicating with each other without meeting each other is difficult. So I designed a new kind of walker that the elderly can adjust to their own taste. They can adjust the color, add different types of wheels and baskets and there is even a tag to find your house.
In this way the walker becomes much more personal and not something that stops you from going outside. Now a walker is a good tool to go outside and feel yourself again.
The most important thing of this walker is that you are proud to use it. If the elderly people start using this walker, they will meet the young people again and this can be a start to close the generation gap.
End result
