�ݺ�ߣ

Editor's Notes

• #17: Special features of the older market:Large numbers of people with functional disabilityUp to 4 million have a (major) limitation to their daily activities caused by illness and disability Many more have at least one impairmentAge UK Stats – June 2012About 3 million people in the UK have osteoporosis, and this is responsible for around 230,000fractures each year
• #24: Older People are an increasing proportion of the population. Many have special needs, but collectively they form an important part of the consumer market. What are their needs and aspirations, and what barriers do they experience in accessing goods and services?This interactive and simulation workshop is based on the ´Through other Eyes´ programme originated by gerontologists in Ontario and will enable participants to explore the realities of design for older people. It will offer a powerful insight into what it is like to be older & excluded due to physical and sensory impairments, the environment &/or service or product design.The programme facilitates experiential learning which challenges attitudes to older people and the design, development and packaging of products and services provided for them.
• #25: Inclusive design encourages manufacturers and providers to define the target population as the maximum number of people who could use the product and it aims to minimise the number (at the top of pyramid below) for whom specially adapted products are required.Inclusive design also encourages designers and providers to gain an understanding of the needs and abilities of the diverse market and how consumer needs may alter with age and changing ability.
• #26: Currently, loss of cognitive skills – our ability to think and remember – is the single biggest reason why older people lose their independence and need 24-hour care.  Over one million people in the UK over 65 have some degree of age-related cognitive impairment and 80 per cent of those diagnosed with significant impairment will develop dementia within six years. With demographic change bring a larger ageing society the number is expected to grow. A major research project that Age UK has been supporting at Edinburgh University focusing on cognitive decline has highlighted how people’s ability to process and understand information changes over time. The work has its roots in studies which began in 1947 and has tracked the same cohort of people over their lives, with them being tested at interval, the most recent of which was aged 73. This unique research shows is that mental ability, on average, declines quite gradually over most of our lives with the decline being offset by our innate use of experience. However, some forms of mental decline are more pronounced than others and the biggest declines occur after the age of 60.While our verbal abilities are retained virtually all our lives our inductive reasoning, perceptual speed, verbal memory and spatial awareness all decline markedly, on average, after the age of 60.  These are all important, however, some are more important than others in different kinds of daily living activities  For example - inductive reasoning is the form of reasoning that constructs or evaluates inductive arguments- Verbal memory is our memory of words- Perceptual speed is our ability to read and take in informationthese are very important in our ability to interact with some of the tasks we might encounter in a telephone call relating to our finances and decline in these would impair the ability of someone to review a document, assess information on it and communicate information in a timely manner. (call centre staff cite incidents of older clients going off to find some data and returning 20 minutes later not realising the period of time that has passed)