Sin eng-35 - i pulley

Elderly

Elderly is the term referring to a particular age group which is considered

senior or older. They usually have more health problems as their bodies

systems are deteriorating.

Women generally live longer and tend not to remarry, older women are

more likely to live alone than older men. Globally, about 19% of women

aged 60 years or above live alone, but only 8% of men in that age group do

so. This would usually lead to loneliness and depression at times.

They usually stay at home for more than 12 hours a day, spending their

time doing house work, surf net, read, exercise, watch TV program, chit-

chat, nap and pray. They would only sleep 7-9 hours per day. This will

lead to boredom and usually shutting down the brain’s basic system due

their deteriorating state.

The age of elderly ranges from 65 years and above.

The link of the information above:

From http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/stats/charts/popn-

area.html#popnB

What we have done:

During our brainstorming sessions, we decided to work on the elderly as

we feel that there are many issues related to old folks. We researched on

some problems related to old age.

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WEAKENING OF MUSCLES IN ELDERLY

What we have done:

We carried out more research on the issues related to old age.

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What we have done:

We carried out more research on some of the illnesses and

diseases related to old age.

What we have done:

We carried out more research on some of the reasons why the

elderly are not exercising and the benefits that can be reaped

from exercising.

What we have done:

We carried out research on some of the equipment that the

elderly can use for exercising.

D&T Design for Change Plan: Spreading Of Awareness (Rejected

Plan)

1. Decide on a date to return to the Old Folks Home for an interview.

2. Plan the questions needed to be asked of the Elderly when

interviewing them.

3. Video down the interview at the venue.

4. Create a power point slide, including the video.

5. Broadcast the power point slide to the school through our

Broadcasting system and a talk to the school during the Mass

Assembly of the school.

6. Video down the entire process of the talk as evidence of our

research before handing in as the document.

What we have done:

Sketching some solutions that may help solve the problem.

6 Considerations:

1. It must be stable for the Elderly

2. It must be easy to use

3. It must portable

4. It must be able to use at homes or apartments for individual

usage.

5. It must be safe to use

6. It must benefit the Elderly while using it, both Physically and

Mentally.

Pedal Idea Rejected

1. The pedal is not stable enough for the Elderly to be used

safely as a permanent product.

2. It is difficult to keep the pedals.

3. Attaching and detaching the pedals would be hard for the

elderly or the user.

4. The walking stick would be too heavy to be used as a

walking stick for the elderly.

5. Inconvenient if using in crowded places.

6. Had difficulties in solving the detachment and attachment

of the pedals to the walking stick.

7. It would be awkward for the elderly to use in public places.

8. Basically the pedal became not usable as a walking stick

and as a safe pedal to use.

What we have done:

Sketching some more solutions that may help solve the

problem after the first round of solutions was rejected.

After our Ipulley was fabricated, we tested the efficiency of our product by having Elderly test out

our product. We brought the machine down to an Elder home and 11 of the Elderly use it during

their physiotherapy session.

From the survey conducted after they tried our product, it is clear that they enjoyed using the Ipulley,

and felt that it was beneficial. As the Ipulley is very user friendly and functions very similarly to the

current product, the Elderly were willing to try out the machine without much hesitation.

Reflection

The Design for Change experience was interesting as I had never done

anything like this before. We followed the process of the Design and

Technology, thus coming this far with the product we have. It wasn’t easy

to follow strictly to the process because almost anything can be linked

back, so it was really messy at first. Our teacher-in-charge actually had to

brief us a lot more times before we knew how the flow was like and

reminded us what our different jobs are.

We had a lot of problems on researching the products and trying to find

problems to come out with a solution. We had our teacher to guide us but

mainly we had to do those by ourselves. Many of the websites that we

found gave unsure facts for our topic, but we managed to find sufficient

information to use as evidence and guide.

We had meetings to decide on the decision made to carry on the next step,

although the meetings were very short but the instructions were made

quite clear. We had to always keep in contact with each other in case of

any unsure questions were needed to be clarified.

At first we felt really excited on the journey ahead, we went on a trip to

the Old Folks’ Home for the first time to find out the problems of the

Elderly is facing now. Later on when we had to do research, our flare lost

its’ spark. We had completely lost it, so our work wasn’t as good as it

should be. Somehow between everything that has happened, we were

actually starting to get the hang of the entire process which made the

researching part a little bit more interesting. When we were almost at the

end of the experience, it was really tough because time was not on our

side. We had to rush our works and get everything done up. That was

when we all were in ‘working mode’, we had everything we need to clear

the mess we have. It was the rush of time that gave us the energy we

needed and a little fun to it.

It actually made me like researching, also to train me to work well under

pressure and work well along with my team members.

Reflection

The Design For Change was a little tiring but fun as I get to experience what

that was outside the textbook and what our teachers could not teach in school.

We were a bit messy in the first place as we did not get the hang of work but

we got adapt to the stress that we were under.

In the first place, we could not find reliable website such as Wikipedia. But we

manage to get through it by finding books and other medical websites. When

we had unsure steps that we need to do, our teacher-in-charge was there to

help clear our troubles and/or questions. We had many meetings in school to

clear up our steps and mistakes.

We went to Old Folk’s Home to find out what trouble the elderly face like

physical problems. We made many meetings to find out solutions to the

problems and did many researches on the internet. After that, we find which

solution that was possible for us to solve.

In the beginning, we went on a trip to the Old Folk’s Home. We asked

questions so to help us finding problems for our project. I felt that there were

many needs to be done to help them as the environment there were quite bad

due to very little activities and supports from the nation to the Homes. After

that, we gathered information through the internet and had many meetings to

find whether our evidence is enough to support our solution. Soon after we

found our solution to our problem, we did many researches on which material

to use for our product. I felt tiring searching through the internet as many were

not helping to our product. In the end, we had to rush to do our product as we

wasted much of our time doing research.

I was able to know more about the environment that we live at. I know more

about how the elderly feels and I know more about how I could help my

grandparents and our senior residents in my neighborhood.