Perspectives on “Novel” Techniques for Designing Age-Friendly Homes and Neighborhoods with Older Adults

Abstract

Worldwide, growth in the older population creates a pressing need to develop supportive environments that enhance quality of life as people age. Too often, built environments present barriers and challenges to older adults that compromise independent living and adversely affect health and life outcomes. Designing homes, buildings, and neighborhoods with older adults, through exercises in participatory or co-design, could help ensure that environments are better able to facilitate healthy aging. However, while it is potentially advantageous to involve this age group in environmental design decisions, doing so can be difficult. Analysis of and guidance on effective ways to involve older adults in these activities could make the challenge easier. With this aim in mind, this article provides critical perspectives on eight “less traditional” engagement techniques—walking interviews, photovoice, photo-elicitation, Talking Mats®, participatory mapping, drawing, model-making, and the “Design Fair”. Insights into the strengths and limitations of these techniques, gained from observation of their use in participatory design activities, as well as feedback collected from older co-design participants, are presented. The article concludes by offering a number of practical recommendations for those interested in designing age-friendly homes and neighborhoods with older people.

Co-Creation and Co-Production of Health Promoting Activities Addressing Older People—A Scoping Review

“…Among the remaining articles, 160 did not deal with topics concerning the co-creation or co-production of activities with older people aged 60+ and were excluded. Thus, 18 full-text articles were included [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]; a flow chart illustrating the study selection process can be seen in Figure 1 .…”

“…This is in line with the review from Voorberg et al who believe that it is often the public body that is regarded as responsible for the success of the co-creation or co-production [ 13 ]. Two of the included studies in our review emphasized the importance of acknowledging participants’ time, competencies, and resources [ 33 , 45 ] and, in addition, seeing citizens as associates as suggested by Voorberg et al [ 13 ]. Other included studies described the importance of having an agreed aim and a realistic scope of the co-creation project [ 40 , 44 ], which is in line with the influential factor 4, the presence of clear incentives for co-creation or co-production, stated by Voorberg et al [ 13 ].…”

The Participation of Older People in the Concept and Design Phases of Housing in The Netherlands: A Theoretical Overview

“…The design of a building itself is characterised by dimensional, technological and stakeholder complexities that are derived from technology philosophy [ 30 , 31 ]. Designing homes, buildings, and neighborhoods with older adults, through exercises in participatory or co-design, could help ensure that environments are better able to facilitate healthy ageing [ 32 ]. Brookfield et al [ 32 ] provided a critical overview of eight “less traditional” engagement techniques—walking interviews, photovoice, photo-elicitation, Talking Mats ® , participatory mapping, drawing, model-making, and the “Design Fair”.…”

“…Designing homes, buildings, and neighborhoods with older adults, through exercises in participatory or co-design, could help ensure that environments are better able to facilitate healthy ageing [ 32 ]. Brookfield et al [ 32 ] provided a critical overview of eight “less traditional” engagement techniques—walking interviews, photovoice, photo-elicitation, Talking Mats ® , participatory mapping, drawing, model-making, and the “Design Fair”. In practice, different levels of participation can be witnessed.…”

Designing an eHealth Well-Being Program: A Participatory Design Approach

“…Participation is “a process in which individuals take part in decision-making in the institutions, programs, and environments that affect them” [ 47 ]. Participatory design was originally applied in the contexts of human–computer interaction and computer-supported cooperative work in work places [ 48 ] but has expanded into areas including healthcare [ 49 ], aging and housing [ 50 ], product development [ 51 ], and infrastructure [ 52 ]. Emerging from “design processes” in Scandinavian countries through collaborations between scholars and trade unions, participatory design is now established as a valuable research method with its own methodological orientation, methods, and techniques [ 41 ].…”