May 1-2, 2007
Washington, D.C.

Cochairs
Barry H. Beith, Ph.D., Past HFES President, CEO and CTO, HumanCentric Technologies, Inc. (HCT)
Ron B. Kemnitzer, FIDSA, IDSA Past President, Professor, School of Architecture + Design, Virginia Tech

Preliminary Program

MAY 1

8:00 am
Registration & Breakfast

8:30 - 9:00 am
Introduction & Welcome

9:05 - 10:15am
Invited Address: The Art of Living Room Caring
Gary Thietten, President/CEO, Idaho Home Health and Hospice, Inc.

What changes are needed in today's home care environment for the aging population? In approximately 15 years, there will be more people pushing walkers than strollers. We must continue to focus on ways to adapt the American home and America's transportation systems and buildings for accessibility and care of our nation's aging population. It is said that home is where the heart is, and this presentation will provide information and challenges for adapting the environment of America's aging so they will know America truly cares.

10:15 - 10:30 am
Break

10:30 - 11:45 am
Panel: Design of Home Health Care Technologies for Older Adults
Moderator: Wendy A. Rogers, Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Panelists: Arthur (Dan) Fisk, Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology; John Peifer, Senior Director of Product Management, Intelehealth; Jay Lundell, Manager, User Experience Design, Digital Health Group, Intel Corporation

People are living longer and contributing more to their own health care maintenance than ever before. This panel focuses on the specific issues related to designing supports for health care that are intended to be used by older adults (and/or their formal or informal caregivers). We will consider the unique characteristics of this population and their health care needs, such as management of chronic conditions, acute care, and general wellness. We will also discuss critical context of care issues such as home health, privacy, and social supports.

11:45 - 1:00 pm
Lunch

1:00 - 1:40 pm
Invited Address: Designing for Generation Wise
Jay Lundell, Manager, User Experience Design, Digital Health Group, Intel Corporation

Questions about designing for older people usually arise from the assumption that since older people are those who are declining physically and mentally, the key design issues are in providing physical and cognitive assistance to allow access to the same basic types of features and services that younger people value. What is rarely considered is the notion that older people continue to develop and evolve in their character, in their spirituality, and in their wisdom. Design must begin with an understanding of the value systems, life experiences, and core beliefs of the target user. Only through a deep understanding of these constructs can we develop technology that older people will adopt, live with, and find useful.

1:45 - 2:15 pm
Invited Address: The Dignity FactorT: Health Care Product Design that Brings Dignity to Aging
Bryce Rutter, Founder & CEO, Metaphase Design Group

Is it possible to age gracefully with dignity? NO! When you look at the vast array of products that are marketed today to the aging population, you will quickly see that they all possess the same cold, sterile, and inhumane engineered look and feel, providing little comfort or compassion when one is most vulnerable. Dignity is all about respect, compassion, and caring, it is what connects us as human beings. It has no age attached to it. In this presentation, Bryce Rutter discusses the current state of health care design and highlights the potency of The Dignity FactorT when designing medical products, devices, disposables, and equipment and home care products.

2:15 - 2:30 pm
Break

2:30 - 3:45 pm
Panel: Benefits of an Integrated Approach to Human Factors and Industrial Design
Moderator: Michael Wiklund, Wiklund Research & Design
Panelists: Sheila Crosby, HumanCentric Technologies; Bryce Rutter, Founder & CEO, Metaphase Design Group; Stephen Wilcox, Principal, Design Science

Drawing on case studies, panelists will advocate close collaboration between human factors and industrial design specialists as a means to achieve breakthroughs in the design of safe and effective medical devices for the home. They will recall earlier days when the disciplines had less interaction and how the lack of communication served only to compromise design quality. Noting the accelerating convergence in the work of HF and ID specialists, the panelists will recommend ways to ensure smooth collaboration on various types of projects and avoid turf battles. They will eagerly debate audience members who believe that ID specialists should not be allowed to conduct research and HF specialists should not be allowed to design.

3:45 - 4:00pm
Break

4:00 - 5:15pm
Invited Address: There's No Place Like Home
Charles Austen Angell, Associate Creative Director, ZIBA

Home-the word conjures up feelings of simplicity and belonging. In literature, the concept of home unites us through the meaning of family, society, and transgenerational values. Yet the home is not a static environment; it is constantly evolving and adapting with the occupants. There are as many types of home environments as there are people. In contrast, the design and development of medical devices and related treatment generally focuses on eliminating variables from the use case-through either a more static clinical environment or a trained clinician and caregiver. The majority of device and treatment developers are ill prepared for this fundamental shift in design strategy. This presentation will discuss some of the challenges incumbent in user-driven home care as well as some approaches for framing "Health and Wellness" issues within the home.

MAY 2

8:00 - 8:30 am
Breakfast

8:30 - 9:45 am
Invited Address: Aging in Place: The Design Agenda for Our Lifespan
Pattie Moore

As global aging continues to define one of the most significant design opportunities of our time, the challenge of determining autonomy and independence for the lifespan has reached its creative nexus. The transformation of aging from a medical model to a consumer continuum of choice and control provides for a vital repositioning of all industries related to personal health and wellness. Moore's seminal research utilizing an Elder Empathic Experience supports the unique perspective of design and gerontology as a means for addressing the "Aging in Place" agenda.

9:45 - 10:00 am
Break

10:00 - 11:00 am
Invited Address: The Transgenerational House: Design for All Ages and Abilities
James Joseph Pirkl, Founding Director, Transgenerational Design Matters, Inc.

Every eight seconds, another Baby Boomer turns 50, fueling a sea change in demand for age-sensitive "transgenerational" housing that may soon engulf the housing and home furnishing industries. This presentations will shatter popular myths and perceptions about age and aging; show why today's housing and household products discriminate against common age-related physical and sensory impairments; and present a design case study of the country's first "transgenerational" house that accommodates the young, the old, the able, the disabled-without penalty to any group.

11:00 - 12:15 pm
Invited Address: Ethnographic Research for Home Health Care Product Design
Stephen Wilcox, Principal, Design Science

As medical products move from the hospital to the home, the design problem is transformed dramatically. What was used by a highly trained professional now has to be used by a person who, in the typical case, may suffer from a variety of disabilities, including arthritis and/or limited vision or cognitive deficits. This puts the burden on the designer to fully understand the problem that he or she sets out to solve. This is where ethnographic research comes in. The purpose of ethnographic research is to understand the users of products in their natural environments. This presentation will cover how ethnographic research applies to the development of home health care products.

12:15 - 1:30 pm
Lunch

1:30 - 4:30 pm
Delphi Exercise: The Home as a Health Care Venue

This half-day working session for all conference attendees and speakers is intended to gather data in identifying and address major design issues related to the home as a health care venue. Data generated in this session will be provided in a report to be distributed to attendees and speakers after the conference.

4:30 - 5:00 pm
Wrapup

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