Patch was designed to tackle the mental health issues of the elderly. By allowing the elderly to meet new friends with their hobbies and interests, we attempt to let them interact more with others and at the same time, improve their mental health and prevent social isolation. Using the Agile Methodology, my teammates and I were expected to come up with a prototype within the 16 weeks (one semester).
Why are people focusing more on the physical side of health? Many elderly folks in Singapore are “forgotten by society” with people going out of their way to avoid them due to their mental health issues. So why are there such stigma surrounding these conditions? Stated in an article by Channel News Asia, in 2014, there were 126 cases of elderly suicide and now, in 2018, can you imagine just how many cases of suicides there will be if we do not take action to improve these problems? With Patch, we are trying to integrate the current technology to help patch the holes in their heart caused by loneliness and free them from social isolation.
What about the market? Is there one? Will people actually use our product?
We conducted a survey at the following locations and managed to collect 72 responses from the elderly on their views of having such an application.
How to make it suitable for the elderly?
As part of our UI research, we mainly focused on two areas of the application design in which we felt would be most impactful for the elderly:
<aside> <img src="/icons/language_red.svg" alt="/icons/language_red.svg" width="40px" /> Additionally, to cater for the Chinese-speaking elderly in Singapore, we also incorporated both English and Chinese (Mandarin) into Patch.
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