Residents and organizations conversed with students on how seniors can live independently as long as possible. The industrial design students will design a product that contributes to the development and improvement of the districts service points.
In February 2011 Field Academy started the project Assisted Living Areas Kralingen-Crooswijk. Phase I (quantitative analysis) and Phase II (qualitative analysis) of the study have been completed. Phase III of the research focuses on further development of the district service points and satellites. A district service point /satellite is a place where local residents can find information, gain advice and support and also get the chance to meet each other. A district service point is professionally staffed and a satellite is mainly staffed by volunteers. Currently a district service point was achieved at the Vredenoordplein in Kralingen-Crooswijk. The second district service point is still in development.
In Phase III of the project Assisted Living Areas Kralingen-Crooswijk we work together with Industrial Design students, led by Adinda Freudenthal from TU Delft. The students are asked to identify the needs of current and potential visitors of the districts service point regarding the information on how long residents can (learn to) find their way around as independently as possible. The students do this in the context of a Bachelor’s final project.
As a start for this project, a district lecture was organized on the 25th of April in Zorgcentrum (Healthcare centre) Rubroek Kralingen-Crooswijk. In this district lecture several parties were present who shared their point of view on what the interests and priorities are in relation to the development and improvement of the district service point.
The afternoon consisted of two parts. The first part of the afternoon was a talk from the organization that are part of a district service point. Stitching (foundation) DOCK, the Vrijwilligerswinkel and Vraagwijzer were present for this. The second part was a talk from stakeholders in the district, namely the Senior Council and Stichting Aafje. Any interested party was given fifteen minutes for his / her story, after which the students were given the opportunity to ask questions. It was a varied program, in which the complexity if the problem emerged positively.
At the end of the day there was a special guest: Suzen Daamen. She spoke about her CD-ROM ‘Wegwijs in Nederland (Guide to the Netherlands)’, which is an e-learning program that aims at the stimulation of empowerment of citizens. The stakeholders form a consultative group and will give the students feedback during the design process.
Based on the information provided this afternoon and further field research, the students themselves will have to draw own constraints and program of requirements. It is not certain what type of product the students will develop. The results of the project are known at the end of June.
