Imagined futures: designing future environments for the care of older people

Abstract

This paper contributes to understanding the role of design in promoting quality of life for older people living in care homes. The study described employed photographic methods to understand the life-world of older people in three care homes in the north of England. Individuals were provided with cameras and invited to record aspects of the home and the environment that reflected what was important to them. These images formed the basis of interviews, the content of which was analysed using an interpretative phenomenological method. Participants described the multiple transitions they faced and the challenges of simultaneously navigating this new environment whilst also making sense of the ‘alien’ body they now inhabited. The life world of the older person was one conceptualized as betwixt and between place and space, between hope and despair. This paper discusses the potential contribution of design in creating future environments for the care of older people.