Ruth Shovlin

Ruth's project - Design solutions to support the over 70s to remain in their own home 

This project aimed to explore the needs of older people currently living at home and to develop design solutions to support these needs. The solution supports the need for people with sensory difficulties to communicate in emergency situations. The concept, SafeD, consists of a wearable device, base unit and an accompanying app. The concept allows for medical first responders to scan the device with their smartphone and obtain the patients’ medical information. The wearable device, through different attachments, can be worn in a number of different ways. These different attachments allow the users to express their creativity and style. The surrounding environment can be disabling for older people. In order to support independence and aid them to live at home, design solutions must be retrofitted into the surroundings and allow older users the autonomy of which aids they would like in their homes.