The Future Well-being of Middle Stage Alzheimer Family Carers
This was the first self initiated project which was completed in third year. This project was the first one free-reign to explore design practices we were interested in, having to write our own brief. For me, this was human centred design whilst exploring taboo issues. The project I focused on was close to home and was focused around my grandparents.
Final Brief
There are 50 million people diagnosed in the world with Alzheimer’s disease. This results in a lot of family carers stepping up to the plate in challenging times. We focus our energy onto the patient and typically overlook the health ofthe family carer.
This project will be gaining an insight into a Middle stage Alzheimer’s family carer. I will be researching into the physical and psychological effects this can have on the carer, alongside this, looking at their overall well-being and how this has been effected.
This will be explored by using a human centered design approach with collaborative design with carers to gain insights into the pain points of caring.
‘“My emotional level of understand towards Alzheimer’s has been taken to a new level at first I knew it was a difficult part of family life but now I realise it’s much more than difficult it’s more a mourning than an issue as your essentially being torn from that person but physically they’re still with you, it is very mind numbing & painful” - Anon
“Lots of explanations & reassurance, amongst frustration & hurt, some days better than others none the same” - Anon
“Long term - mentally and physically exhausting. Suffered blackouts caused by anxiety. Insomnia and emotional stress caused rosacea outbreaks to skin” - Anon
Touchpoints
