Thesis Project Proposal
Haoqi Xia
Prof. Despina Papadopoulos

Tentative project name: Spring Home; 茂春苑

How can we facilitate intergenerational conversations on elderly care in Shenzhen?

As the Chinese population is falling into a drastically aging society while the birth rate is significantly decreasing, it is urgent and imperative to address the shifting demographic composition in China and encourage a new, collaborative mode that facilitates conversations between different age groups and empowers the society to embrace the challenges that come with the aging society.

The project will be a public installation with mixed reality that takes the form of a microview of a retirement community where recorded footage of interview clips will be played. The interview clips focus on the subject of elderly care. The retirement community will incorporate features of an ideal senior community that interviewees of different ages consider to be.

I would like to pursue this topic as I have always had a deep connection with my 87-year-old grandmother, who has recently been feeling very lonely and, unfortunately, “useless” in society. Since she has always complained about having neither a good senior community in our city nor a fulfilling post-retirement experience, I would like to hear her thoughts and vision for an ideal community as well as other senior citizens’. Meanwhile, as this project requires intergenerational efforts and care, I will research, analyze and incorporate younger generations’ ideas and actions to facilitate the making of this ideal senior community.

I envision the project to cultivate a sense of intergenerational camaraderie and inspire intergenerational conversations and collaborations in finding solutions for the lack of a robust economic, social and cultural support system for the elderly.

 

References:
Project
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/the-preschool-inside-a-nursing-home/424827/
I could potentially suggest and ask for feedback from interviewees about this idea of an intergenerational learning center and incorporate it into the ideal community.

Project
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G6b8U55B1pATJb5su-idn4131ogB1SoJUUhn1o6Vsng/edit?usp=sharing
This is a project of my own. I am interested in exploring the topic of mental health for the elderly care when gathering data.

Project
https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/livable-communities/old-learn/civic/americas-best-intergenerational-communities-aarp.pdf
Have a list of lasting intergenerational programs that involve different types of intergenerational engagements: artistic, agricultural, literary, etc. The ideal community’s event programming could draw inspiration from these programs.

Project
https://time.com/longform/senior-care-robot/
The project introduces robots to senior homes. As the feedbacks are mostly positive, I hope to investigate the possibility of incorporating robots and other assistive technologies into the ideal senior community,

Person
http://www.chinanews.com/m/sh/2017/02-10/8146637.shtml
The lady interviewed in the article hosts regular painting classes in her living room for hundreds of friends. Inspired by the lady’s artistic initiative and leadership, I look forward to researching the idea of community leadership amongst senior citizens.

Person

This YouTube channel lists interview footage of senior citizens in Shanghai. This lady in this specific video expresses concerns about housing conditions in Shanghai that negatively impact her post-retirement experience. The project will incorporate housing as one of the key user research factors.

Publication
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/choosing-a-senior-living-community
This article from Harvard Health presents a helpful list of questions that help identify a qualified senior living community. I will use the list of questions to test future prototypes of the ideal community.

Publication
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23070764?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=attitudes%20of%20elderly%20chinese&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dattitudes%2Bof%2Belderly%2Bchinese&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A04ea4db7ad83f0d6d67fddb3179ebc26
This journal article finds that the factors listed below have correlational relationships with attitudes towards aging:
– younger in age
– higher education level
– better self-rated financial adequacy
– having a confidant
– having someone to provide care when ill or diabled
– health status: mental and physical health
– gender: males have less positive attitudes towards aging
I look to investigate those factors in my design research.

Publication
https://www2.deloitte.com/cn/zh/pages/real-estate/articles/china-senior-housing.html
This marketing report from Deloitte mentions that Singapore and China advocate for a familial elderly-care social mechanism. Governmental policies are instrumental in shaping senior communities and establishing infrastructures for the elderly. I will investigate policies from the local, provincial as well as central governments for senior citizens.

Publication
http://www.chinanews.com/gn/2020/06-19/9216394.shtml
This article points out that facing the aging population, the central government might raise the standard age of retirement in the near future. In reaction to the potential policy shift, I will reshape my thinking about the definition of “senior citizens,” seeking answers to At what age does one consider to be a senior citizen? Is the concept of seniority solely related to age?

How I envision realizing the project：
Key steps:
1. Interview, host creative workshops, conduct surveys with senior citizens (age 65 and above) and individuals from other age groups.
2. Analyze the qualitative and quantitative data
3. Design a “minimal viable product” prototype
4. Receive feedbacks and iterate prototype
5. Design a detailed, polished work (using Unity Engine, display screens, physical constructions, etc.).

Key benchmarks:
1. 2 intergenerational creative workshops
2. At least 30 interviews
3. At least 100 qualified surveys
4. The installation will be experienced by at least 1,000 people.

Tags:
#elderlycare #civiccollaboration #intergenerational #idealcommunity #mixedreality