User Needs Analysis

The intended key users of our project are elderly people who have lost a considerable amount of mobility, but none of their mental faculties. As such their physical condition is a restraint on their independence, and our proposed wheelchair should enable them to reassert their independence to a greater or lesser degree. NOTE: Aspects of this wheelchair make it of use to a much wider segment of the population - from non-elderly disabled people to those over 60 who in addition to physical disablity also exhibit mental disibilities. However the entire package is most suited to the key user group as identified above.

The loss of physical mobility comes as a shock to most people. Simple everyday activities, which the individual has done with hardly a thought over the previous years, become serious obstacles. Life outside of the home environment becomes more daunting still. While the majority will be capable of some unaided movement, they tire easily, and this ends up restricting their tasks around the house and day to day plans.

Concern about a person's health - both from the individual and their family - naturally increases as a person ages. Indeed many elderly people are put into assisted living homes because of concerns over their health. Families want the best care availible, and homes with on site medical care have many highly skilled professionals on hand. However, such is the nature of an assisted living home (in contrast to a nursing home or indeed a hospice) that the medical staff are there to be called upon, rather than monitoring their patients much like in hospitals. This is not a bad thing by any stretch - enabling older people to regain some of their independence is hardly compatible with the intrusion of constant physical surveillance. There are going to be cases though where relatively common health problems (such as a heart attack or stroke) occur while the individual is alone and perhaps incapacitated, thus unable to call for help.

Communication Issues are also present; most elderly people are likely to have a landline phone, and are likely to be comfortable using such a phone. However, anything beyond that is unlikely. It is possible that many may have been given a mobile phone, but do not use it, and internet based communication is also likely to be minimal. With email rapidly becoming one of the dominant forms of communication, old people are missing out on a fast and convenient way to keep in touch with friends and relatives.