Design with Participation – Older Adults as Co‑Creators of More Person‑ and User‑Centred Assistive Technologies

Design with Participation asks how older people with mobility and other impairments can move from being passive recipients of assistive devices to active participants who set requirements. The project starts from lived experience and aims at a more equal provision of assistive devices in Sweden.

Problem statement

Growing older often means that assistive devices become part of everyday life. They create opportunities for independence, security and quality of life, while identity, aesthetics and stigma affect how the devices are experienced and used. This knowledge project builds on research showing that a lack of participation in the prescription process and in the development of assistive devices turns older people into passive recipients rather than co-creators. The project shifts the focus from technical top-down solutions to grounding the design of assistive devices in lived experience and everyday creativity. Giving older people the conditions and tools to influence the availability, range and development of the assistive devices that shape their lives increases participation, dignity and equality.

Aim

The project aims to examine, in a Swedish context, how assistive devices can become more person- and user-centred, starting from older people with mobility and other impairments and their lived experiences, needs, requirements and expectations of assistive devices. The focus is on examining the conditions for a more person- and user-centred provision of assistive devices, in which older people are not only recipients but active participants who set requirements. By contributing new and deeper knowledge about how older people use and relate to assistive devices, and about their ability to influence availability, range and development, the project aims to promote greater participation, improved quality of life and a more equal provision of assistive devices in Sweden.

Barriers and enablers for older people's influence, and for their ability to act as active participants who set requirements, will be identified, as will possible variations between different geographical contexts. The knowledge generated is expected to serve as a basis for policy development, as well as for more person- and user-centred design, development and provision of assistive devices.