This is a momentous year for our Designing for the Future student design project which we run with the the University of Brighton. Not only are we celebrating five years of great student projects focussing on design for aging but this year we have entrants from three courses across two Faculties. With these milestones in
Making a Will is something which is so easy to put off and yet without one, you risk leaving your family vulnerable. Lawyer David Edwards from family law firm Burt, Brill & Cardens has put together an easy to read, downloadable Guide which explains how to make a will, how to make sure it is legal and
I was delighted to be asked to contribute a Viewpoint piece by Housing LIN about design for aging and in particular to share my experience and some of the outcomes from our Designing for the Future project with Faculty of Arts, University of Brighton. Housing LIN is a professional network supporting over 5,800 people working in
In October, I took part in a seminar organised as part of the ILC-UK and Personal Finance Resource Centre project on financial circumstances and wellbeing hosted by Brown-Forman to discuss findings around consumer spending. David Hayes from the PFRC presented new research exploring patterns of expenditure among older people which was then debated by an expert roundtable, along with
In all the talk about digital inclusion, it is perhaps surprising to discover that it was a grandmother from Gateshead who pioneered online shopping from her living room way back in the early 1980s. As part of a council initiative to help the elderly, Mrs Jane Snowball, 72, sat down in an armchair in
Poppy Wilson St James is another of our "Designing for the Future" alumni and her final year health-related project is concerned with communicating relevant, but sometimes inaccessible facts about food in original and engaging ways. All very topical in the light of the various recent food scandals. I was particularly struck by the idea of the pig's
As people live longer, pension pots shrink and more families find themselves caring not only for their own children but also parents and grandparents, some sort of communal living seems inevitable for all of us. This represents a huge sea change in how we live in the UK. For people born after the Second
Much of the discussion around housing for older people centres around the notion of independent living. But while being able to stay at home is the aspiration of many, what if independence is not the right goal? We may not want to rely on others for our care but few of us relish being
A year ago, the emerging independent living market was grappling with the dual challenges of raising awareness of the products available to help people live independently and convincing consumers of the benefits of products which often had negative associations. This time last year there seemed to be 4 models: 1. “Trip- Advisor” style consumer-led rating
We are thrilled that The Future Perfect Company has been featured on the The Living Map of Innovators which is a Nesta aging project. Looks interesting (and not just because we are featured!) For more details, click on The Living Map of Innovators
