Defying ageism with connection and co-design

Recognising unconscious biases about aging and focusing on the positives and opportunities of aging were the central themes at the New/Old: Designing to Defy Ageism panel discussion held recently at the University of Melbourne-led innovation precinct Melbourne Connect.

Aged care leaders and senior design, research and advocacy professionals explored ways to challenge ageism through co-designing for inclusivity, personal agency and intergenerational connection.

“Public discussions about innovation rarely include seniors,” said host James Kelly, Partner and head of Seniors Living & Care at ClarkeHopkinsClarke (CHC) Architects. Kelly — an advocate for the design and delivery of truly integrated communities for Australia’s growing senior population — focuses the practice’s attention on research and best practice in a sector that has changed rapidly in recent years.

The wide-ranging panel discussion about the drivers, impacts and antidotes to ageism also drew on the expertise of David Wright-Howie, policy researcher at COTA Australia (Council on the Ageing); Dr Kaele Stokes, Executive Director of Advocacy and Research at  Dementia Australia; Natasha Wilkinson, CEO of Donwood Community Aged Care; and Professor Pazit Levinger, Principal Researcher and exercise physiologist at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI).

“There’s increasing awareness both in government and the sector that services should be planned and developed with, not just for, older people, and that their lived experience really matters to achieve the best outcome,” Wright-Howie said.

“So what does this mean for the physical design and cultural environment of our care services and our public spaces?”

Cultural change needed

Stokes described misunderstandings about dementia and the isolation and lack of consultation that can result for many of the nearly 500,000 Australians living with the condition.

“Often people with dementia aren’t asked what they want or what they think because there’s an assumption they don’t have the capacity to be able to engage,” she said.

“That’s absolutely not the case. We have a vibrant community of advocates living with dementia around the country who participate in all sorts of activities for our organisation as advocates for systemic change. They have opinions, ideas and inspiration we can all draw from. I think that’s a key cultural change that as a community we need to make. It’s something we do need to think about when we’re designing spaces, communities, policies and programs too,” Stokes said.

“Given that in residential care more than two-thirds of people are living with moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment and ... about 70% of people living with dementia are out in the community, they can’t just be corralled off into a separate sphere. They’re part of our communities.”

The role of integration

Wilkinson agreed and said many of the 75,000 Victorians living in residential aged care are also underestimated.

“But the aged care industry is definitely changing and seeing these opportunities,” she said.

“Many aged care homes have integration with preschools and secondary schools, and bring residents out to other communities like universities … to have talks. That brings so much purpose and experience out into our workforce, our younger generations … from a group of people who have time, purpose and experience, and still want to give to their community.”

Levinger said in her work creating indoor training facilities and outdoor exercise parks to help seniors maintain their health, wellbeing and social connections, enlisting older advocates is central to success.

“We’ve found when there’s a choice, an older champion has more impact than a younger trainer because people can relate to them,” she said. 

“Getting them involved in decisions ... they have so much wisdom and a lot of experience, which should be encouraged and listened to,” Levinger said.

Meaningful co-design

According to James Kelly, great examples of intergenerational living, common in Europe and emerging in Australia, are a product of meaningful co-design.

Architects who don’t listen deeply to residents miss valuable opportunities to design more interesting, adaptable, diverse communities that promote resident choice and agency, Kelly said.

“There can be an assumption that as designers we need to remove sensory stimulus for people with dementia, but that’s not the case, and it can result in spaces that potentially offer nothing to anyone.”

His team applies urban design thinking to link seniors’ communities with their broader neighbourhoods through shared facilities from cafes to paths and parks that maintain connections between locals of all ages. “It’s about providing accommodation for people to get the care they need locally and allowing them to stay connected with the community they’ve always had a presence in.”

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/wagnerokasaki