Universal design as an approach to sustainable gerontechnology
J. A. Sanford
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AbstractToileting and bathing have long been associated with successful aging at home (e.g., Harris, et al., 2015; Yang and Sanford, 2012). The majority of assistive technologies to support self-care activities among older adults, such as grab bars, commode chairs and tub benches, are specialized devices that are typically non-residential in character and fixed in place or difficult to adjust. This approach to integrating non-adaptable specialized technologies into existing living environments has implications not only for adoption and acceptance, but also for disuse, abandonment, and replacement as individuals’ functional abilities may vary unpredictably and decline over time. In contrast, universal design, which is everyday design, presents an approach to the development of more sustainable technologies that are not only compatible with residential environments, but are useful and usable across the lifespan of both an individual and the product. This paper will contrast universal design to traditional specialized design of gerontechnologies, highlighting examples from 3 ongoing self-care projects in the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center TechSAge to develop user-controlled, adjustable, and repositionable toilet and bathing technologies that can be seamlessly integrated into bathroom environments.Keywords: universal design, aging-in-place, assistive technology, toilet and bathing technologies
J. A. Sanford (2024). Universal design as an approach to sustainable gerontechnology. Gerontechnology, 23(2), 1-1
https://doi.org/10.4017/gt.2024.23.s.1050.opp