Institution calls for better infrastructure for older people

The Institution's new policy statement calls for engineers and government to better cater for the needs of the ageing population.

In 1985 just 15% of the population was over 65 years old; this rose to 17% in 2010 and is set to reach 23% by 2035. The population aged 85+ is expected to double over the next 20 years, and to treble in the next 30 years.

The Institution is calling for government and industry to ensure major infrastructure projects and more household products are designed to cater for older users.

The policy statement, 21st Century Engineering for an Ageing Population, makes five key recommendations about how Government and engineers could play a role in meeting the needs of the increasing number of older people in the UK.

Its author, Garth Johnson FREng, Emeritus Professor at Newcastle University and member of the Institution's Biomedical Engineering Association, said: “There is an increasingly pressing need for Government and industry to step up their efforts to cater for older users.

“All major contracts for public infrastructure should have an earmarked budget to cater for older users, more work should be done to promote innovation for older user-friendly products and companies should consider harnessing the expertise of older or retired engineers when developing household products, vehicles or other devices for mainstream use.”

The greatest change over the last few decades has been the increase in people surviving beyond the age of 85 – the ‘older old’. This is particularly true of women, a large proportion of whom – about 70% – live alone in their own home.

Independent living is the overriding preferred choice for elderly people, and it is also consistent with the imperative to find the most economic approach to maintaining their care and safety. The ability to live at home, and to travel independently, are two main aspirations for the older population.

For the majority, the combination of progressive long term conditions that affect mobility, vision, hearing and balance present the challenges that must be understood by the engineering designer.

Prof Johnson said: "Sometimes relatively minor adjustments can make a huge difference, for example clearer public signage or grab handles, but in the future driverless cars and robots in the home could allow older people to live more mobile or independent lives for longer.”

Dr Helen Meese, Head of Engineering in Society at the Institution said: “Societal responsibility is a key aspect of an engineer’s training but a more holistic approach to engineering design is needed to address not just the life cycle of the product, but the life cycle of the user as well. A growing ageing population is a growing market, too.”

The policy statement outlines two factors, which will become key considerations in engineering design in the near future:

• Changes to engineers’ education and skills development are needed to ensure they are intrinsically more aware of the effects of reducing faculties on an individual’s ability to use their designs. There needs to be a transition in thinking from products specifically for assisted living for the few, to generally applicable solutions suitable for the many.
• The safety and performance standards applied to products for public use need to be adapted based on the changing profile of users. The ability to see, hear, feel or even smell signs of failure or danger diminish with age. Touch screens in general, and miniaturisation in particular, will take devices beyond the capabilities of older users.

Devices need to evolve which are simpler on the outside while being more complex and intrinsically safe on the inside.

The recommendations are summarised as:

• Government and industry must ensure that all major contracts for public infrastructure cater for older users.
• Innovate UK should put out a call for bids to create new design initiatives for older user-friendly ideas and products.
• Companies developing mainstream products should include, wherever possible, a significant proportion of older people – potentially retired engineers – in their design teams.
• Standards relating to engineering products should keep pace with the needs of their ever-growing application to older people.
• Universities, colleges and industry should ensure that training of engineers and designers addresses the functional abilities and restrictions of older people.

Read 21st Century Engineering for an Ageing Population and its full recommendations.