Empowering seniors
Design of a tool to support elderly patients and their care network
Information
Author: Alberts, J.V.
Contributor: Albayrak, A.
Faculty: Industrial Design Engineering
Department: Industrial Design
Programme: Master of Science Design for Interaction & Master of Science Integrated Product Design
Type: Master thesis
Date: 2015-09-11
Keywords: seniors | empowerment | personal informatics | awareness | self-care
Abstract
Research showed how important it is for seniors to feel independent. During the ageing process, seniors go through several events that have great impact on both their physical wellbeing but also on their mental and subjective wellbeing. Leading the senior to feel insecure and sometimes even feel down. One of those events are falls. Falls can lead to hospitalization which concurrently lead to a decreased quality of life. Fall prevention interventions have shown to decrease the senior’s fall risk. Current interventions developed lack a user centered approach. Seniors are only perceived as patients, leading to a lack of empowerment. Therefore a definition for empowerment is developed: Enable self-awareness of subjective and objective well-being resulting in an increased self-confidence and self-efficacy throughout the ageing process. Bloei enables seniors to feel empowered. Through positive reflection on the seniors important moments in their daily lives, while assessing their abilities through health assessment the seniors are supported in the development of their self-efficacy. With a tailored advice and inspirational activities, the senior will become aware of his/her possibilities. A nurse practitioner will play a supportive role in order to increase the seniors confidence.