Hello all,
Im a Furniture and Product design student and Im currently conducting research into improving Alzheimers sufferers within their own home.
Ive recently lost my Nan who had severe Alzheimers by the time she sadly passed away. It wasn't until the desperate stages a few months before passing that she needed to go into a nursing home. I cared greatly for my Nan and it was heartbreaking to see her deteriorate no matter what we and the carers did to help. She dreaded the idea of going into a nursing home and on visiting her there I could understand how painful it must of been for her after living in your own home for so long. Unfortunately she didn't take kindly to carers who came to her home.
Demographically people are living longer therefore the likely increase in Alzheimers among the next Generation "baby boomers" will be high. From research I have carried out so far, the majority of design innovations seems to focus on a nursing home environment. What i'm interested in is seeing what could be done within their own home to improve memory. After speaking with my Father and Step Mother I found out that my Nan would often forget to take her tablets or worse forget to feed my Granddad who was bed ridden and couldn't feed himself. My Dad tried post it notes, diaries, alarms, timers, calendars etc... but with very little success.
I would be really grateful if anyone could share their experiences with relatives or friends and what you did to try and help them with their memory. What things you did around the home for example to help them make connections. With this kind of primary research I will be able to get a better understanding of the illness and how it routinely works to help me find connections that could lead to a probable design solution.
Thank you kindly in advance for any information people can give me, it will all hopefully lead to a successful outcome that could make a difference to our loved ones who have to go through this terrible illness.
Rob
Im a Furniture and Product design student and Im currently conducting research into improving Alzheimers sufferers within their own home.
Ive recently lost my Nan who had severe Alzheimers by the time she sadly passed away. It wasn't until the desperate stages a few months before passing that she needed to go into a nursing home. I cared greatly for my Nan and it was heartbreaking to see her deteriorate no matter what we and the carers did to help. She dreaded the idea of going into a nursing home and on visiting her there I could understand how painful it must of been for her after living in your own home for so long. Unfortunately she didn't take kindly to carers who came to her home.
Demographically people are living longer therefore the likely increase in Alzheimers among the next Generation "baby boomers" will be high. From research I have carried out so far, the majority of design innovations seems to focus on a nursing home environment. What i'm interested in is seeing what could be done within their own home to improve memory. After speaking with my Father and Step Mother I found out that my Nan would often forget to take her tablets or worse forget to feed my Granddad who was bed ridden and couldn't feed himself. My Dad tried post it notes, diaries, alarms, timers, calendars etc... but with very little success.
I would be really grateful if anyone could share their experiences with relatives or friends and what you did to try and help them with their memory. What things you did around the home for example to help them make connections. With this kind of primary research I will be able to get a better understanding of the illness and how it routinely works to help me find connections that could lead to a probable design solution.
Thank you kindly in advance for any information people can give me, it will all hopefully lead to a successful outcome that could make a difference to our loved ones who have to go through this terrible illness.
Rob
