Getting Old & Forgetting Things

Researched and written by Guy Collier. Supervised by Stephen Reay, Nicola Kayes, & Amanda Bill.

Getting Old & Forgetting Things: Design Anthropology and the Medicalisation of Ageing explores the complexities of designing for people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) — a relatively new and controversial diagnosis that describes the ambiguous stage between ‘normal’ age-related decline and dementia. I completed this research with Good Health Design, while working on a co-design project with older adults called 'Living Well with MCI'. The project received funding from Brain Research New Zealand and was carried out in collaboration with the Centre for Person Centred Research at AUT. Our objective was to create an online resource for older adults with MCI. As a member of an interdisciplinary team, I aimed to bridge the fields of design anthropology and design for health, fostering critical reflection on the historical, social, and cultural aspects of MCI as a contested diagnosis. My thesis addresses broader issues of medicalisation in society, alternative cultural models of ageing, and how social science theories and methods can support designers working in healthcare.