a little rework is in order

I'm still concerned that my research question "How can design best support the evolving senior care market?" is the weak spot in my presentation. And since it is the cornerstone of everything I do from here, that is a little disconcerting.

After some encouragement from my fellow students and a little tweaking, I am feeling better about it. But the main response I got when we were going over our presentations for next week was that the contextual rationale for a senior care overhaul is where my strength is. So I may want to move that to the front and really emphasize it, get people involved and caring about my topic right up front. So I will spend tonight moving some things around and seeing where this goes.

But my question may go something like "How can design best support skilled nursing care in the senior living environment?"

things that make you go "hmmmm"

"We would never purposely design a nursing home system like we have if we imagine ourselves in its care." - Steve Shields

changing my key words

Old key words:
senior living
medical model
culture change
person-centered care
Greenhouse model
Household model
Eden Alternative

New key words:
health care
senior living
nursing homes/skilled nursing
evidence-based design
culture change
person-centered care
post-occupancy evaluations

aging with humor

things are a-changin'

enough said

conversation of the day

The conversation of the day centered around the use of my final slide, the one I affectionately entitled, "Lady Bird." (an elderly lady giving the camera the finger). I wanted to upload the photo here, but it says it can't load because of an internal error. It doesn't say what the error is or how I should fix it, so I'm not sure what to do about that.

Anyway, I asked my fellow students if the slide should stay or go for the final presentation. I love it, because I think it conveys a powerful message about how the elderly feel about nursing home care. But I am a little worried about looking unprofessional during the final, considering the number of faculty who will be in attendance.

The general consensus was that the slide should stay. But Bruno had an excellent idea to move it to the first slide, instead of the last one. It sets a mood, gets people's attention, and I have an opportunity to explain its context while everyone is listening. Last time I was trying to talk about it while we were transitioning to the next presenter, so the conversation may have gotten lost.

So that's it. Lady Bird stays, AND gets an upgraded seat. Not bad for someone her age.