Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

Dietary behavior of home-living older adults: the role of environmental factors

PhD in Social Sciences : User behaviorWhile many home-living older adults seem to consume a nutritionally adequate diet, the prevalence of malnutrition in older people living at home remains high and frequently overlooked. Malnutrition in older adults has been recognized as a challenging health concern associated with a decline in health, reduced physical and cognitive function, increased utilization of health services, slower recovery times, premature institutionalization, and increased mortality. The problems that exist in relation to malnutrition, coupled with the increased proportion of older adults in the population, will affect not only the older adults themselves but also has serious implications on health services, public finances, and welfare systems. In response to these growing concerns, effort should be made to help older adults maintain their health. Research evidence increasingly supports the idea that an adequately nutritious sound diet is essential to the health of older adults. It is thus important to understand the dietary behavior of home-living older adults, particularly what factors impact this behavior. The recognition of the importance of understanding dietary behavior has sparked interest in research about these factors. That said, it often focuses solely on the individual-level determinants. Research focusing on environmental determinants of dietary behavior, on the other hand, is growing, but much still remains to be explored. For this reason, this dissertation centered on the environmental determinants of dietary behavior. The main objective of this dissertation is to deepen our understanding of home-living older adults' dietary behavior and advance the current state-of-art literature in this field. This objective is achieved by means of three small interrelated studies. Before proceeding with the studies, I would like to point out the rationale behind them. Many empirical studies in dietary behavior research use in-depth individual interviews as the data collection method. Despite the benefits of in-depth individual interviews as a data collection method, using a single data source to investigate a complex dietary behavior is perhaps insufficient. Additionally, it can result in mono-method bias. To create a good foundation for the studies and improve the overall validity of the findings, I first draw my attention to the data collection method (study 1) before focusing on identifying the environmental factors that impact dietary behavior (study 2). In terms of study 3, the second study's findings guided this study. The paragraphs below describe the three studies. The first study explored the suitability of data collection methods for use with home-living older adults in the context of food choice. The second study investigates environmental factors determining home-living older adults' eating behavior. The third study examines the role of situational factors and the extent to which they lead to the adoption of online grocery shopping. The result of the first study shows that the dyadic interview is a viable method for collecting data from older adults when an alternative interview method is needed. It also indicated that both interview methods generated complementary information. Moreover, using multiple methods has provided greater insights and perspectives about the topic. The findings of study two suggest that a social environment can help encourage healthy eating among home-living older adults. Additionally, participation in a senior center, ensuring access to food (grocery shopping), transportation and mobility aids can support home-living older adults in maintaining their diet and health. The third study found that a combination of poor health, loss of mobility, and distance to the grocery store can create a complex process that hinders older adults' endeavors to obtain healthy food. While some older adults have already adopted online grocery shopping as part of their routines, others are open to the idea as a coping strategy, but some are still hesitant. Taken together, this dissertation contributes to unique insights into data collection methods for use with older adults when exploring food choice, deepens the knowledge of environmental factors associated with eating behavior, and enriches the understanding of situational factors that lead older adults to buy groceries online. The findings carry implications for methodology, theory, and practice within dietary behavior research of home-living older adults

Working with the homeless: The case of a non-profit organisation in Shanghai

This article addresses a two-pronged objective, namely to bring to the fore a much neglected social issue of homelessness, and to explore the dynamics of state-society relations in contemporary China, through a case study of a non-profit organisation (NPO) working with the homeless in Shanghai. It shows that the largely invisible homelessness in Chinese cities was substantially due to exclusionary institutions, such as the combined household registration and 'detention and deportation' systems. Official policy has become much more supportive since 2003 when the latter was replaced with government-run shelters, but we argue that the NPO case demonstrates the potential for enhanced longer-term support and enabling active citizenship for homeless people. By analysing the ways in which the NPO offers services through collaboration and partnership with the public (and private) actors, we also argue that the transformations in postreform China and the changes within the state and civil society have significantly blurred their boundaries, rendering state-society relations much more complex, dynamic, fluid and mutually embedded

Perspectives and Experiences of Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Falling: An Evidence-Based Practice Project

This project sought to answer the following Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) question: What are the perspectives and experiences of community-dwelling older adults with falling

Breaking the commute barrier: How women in Jabodetabek overcome daily challenges on commuting for work

Ensuring safe and convenient transportation is vital for promoting gender equality. Unfortunately, women in Jabodetabek, Indonesia, frequently express insecurity in public transport due to harassment and violence, particularly in crowded buses and trains. This is a critical issue since secure and reliable transportation enables women to engage fully in education, employment, and daily activities.  To better understand women's experiences with public transportation in Jabodetabek, a study was conducted using a case study method. Six women commuters who used public transportation to travel within and between Jabodetabek were recruited based on their willingness to share their experiences and the diversity of their routes. The study used qualitative research methods to collect data, including in-depth interviews and observations of informants' commutes. The study discovered that women in Jabodetabek consider safety concerns and social norms crucial when deciding their transportation mode and route. Women's route choices are influenced by the presence of other women, well-lit areas, and visible security personnel, which contribute to their perceived safety and comfort. Gender plays a significant role in shaping these decisions. The implications of these findings are significant for transportation policy and planning in Jabodetabek. The research underscores the need to develop gender-responsive transportation policies and programs that address women commuters' unique challenges and needs. For example, transportation planners can take steps to increase security personnel presence and improve lighting in areas frequented by women. Moreover, providing women-only transportation options can enhance the safety and comfort of women during their travel. The present research is distinguished by its investigation of women's route choices and the multifaceted factors that shape their decision-making process. In addition, this research represents a gap in the existing literature that has yet to be extensively examined, thereby rendering this study a distinctive and valuable contribution to the field

Design for resourceful ageing : intervening in the ethics of gerontechnology

This paper discusses an innovative approach to the design of technologies for older people. The approach contains a critique of “gerontechnology” as taking decisions out of the hands of older people and materializing what it means to live healthily and well into “foolproof” designs that easily become inappropriate in the variety of situations in which older people end up using them. The proposed design approach focuses on re-delegating such ethical decisions to the point at which technology is used. It does so by considering technologies as resources that can complement the ageing competences of older people and adapt in a variety of ways. To gain design knowledge of the way existing technologies as well as prototypes function as resources across webs of practices, and the dimensions of ‘openness’ along which they may adapt within such practices, the approach enlists networks of everyday things as co-ethnographers

Night-time mobilities and (in)justice in London: constructing mobile subjects and the politics of difference in policy-making

The growing interest in urban night-time economies and night-time transport policies presents an important context in which to examine how mobility justice is conceived and operationalised in policy-making. Literature on transport exclusion and transport justice documents the disadvantages experienced by different social groups and advances theoretical frameworks for distributive justice and transport accessibility. However, this literature has rarely considered the politics of whether and how mobility difference is recognised and planned for in transport policy, including issues of deliberative justice (participation) and epistemic justice (knowledge production). To address these research gaps, this paper engages with Sheller's (2018) theorisation of mobility justice and critically analyses the construction of mobile subjects in policy discourse on night-time mobility. We analyse policy documents part of night-time policy for Greater London to examine the extent to which the differentiated night-time mobilities across social categories (gender, age, ethnicity, income, etc.) are recognised – in other words, how the ‘politics of difference’ play out in transport policy-making. Findings show that the discursive construction of mobile subjects in London's night-time policy distinguishes between workers, consumers, and transport users, yet, these broad categories poorly account for differentiated mobility needs and practices. Publicly available data on differentiated night-time mobilities in London does not inform current policy discourse, obscuring disadvantages experienced by different groups of people moving through the city at night, and thus limits the capacity of existing policy interventions to address mobility injustices. These findings reaffirm the need for transport research to move beyond distributive justice and accessibility analysis, towards exploring the potential of thinking about distributive and epistemic justice for challenging the status quo of transport policy