STORY PREVIEW

2023

SilverConnect

Serangoon garden secondary school

Singapore

MENTOR

Hui Li Leow

Step 1 FEEL

List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.

We have observed that a common reason why the elderly were developing these mental illnesses. That reason is because of their family members neglecting them. However, we couldn’t base it on something from articles about other countries, so we had decided to do a survey to see how Singaporeans may have contributed to this issue. After conducting this survey, we had found that a large number of respondents are not able to find the time to have a conversation or spend time with their grandparents. This could be because of many reasons, like living too far away, being too busy with school etc. Many grandparents also share a common disease, which is dementia.Both results from the survey may be connected to each other. The reason why many elderly develop dementia may be due to the lack of communication with others.

State the problem chosen to work and why.

We want to help tackle the loneliness and isolation that elderly may face.

Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?

Elderly - Loneliness. They feel that no one is able to support them.

Step 2 Imagine

List ALL the different solutions you came up with.

Our group had initially wanted to design the Elderly Bonding Mirror. -The Elderly Bonding Mirror is a simple device that allows the elderly to use technology easier. -When turned off, it is just a mirror that the elderly can keep in their home. -But when turned on, it is a tablet that can be controlled with a simple 6 buttons. -There would be a few default apps already installed, like communication, entertainment and healthcare. - The elderly or their family members could add any more apps that they may think is needed

Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?

After receiving various feedback, we feel like our previous prototype does not work like how we envisioned it to be. Some parts of it like the mirror and the buttons in our initial prototype seemed unnecessary, since our goal is to connect the elderly with others online. So we decided to remove the mirror and stand and focus on improving our app by making it more flexible and easier for the elderly to use.

Step 3DO

Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).

We have not implemented our solution. We are still at ideation and prototype stage.

What was the result or impact of your project?

NIL

How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?

What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:

We have not implemented the project. But some comments about our project include: ' This app will be very useful for the elderly if they know how to use technology' 'An app with multilingual ability will definitely attract the elderly'

What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?

High cost of productions How we have decided to alleviate this concern is to use affordable tablets from Samsung to build our prototype. Convenience Since the tablet already has a portrait feature with its camera, the mirror is unnecessary. The mirror also cannot be used normally as it is heavy. Thus we also removed the stand.

How long did it take to implement your solution?

MORE THAN 30 DAYS

Which global goals does your story align with?

Good health and well being

Please explain briefly why do you think so?

Singapore is a Blue Zone where the population is rapidly ageing. However, younger Singaporeans may be too busy with school or work that they may forget that the elderly also need social and emotional support. This app will help elderly to boost their mental well being.

Step 4 SHARE

How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?

Shared with my classmates and professors from SIT. Response was positive and supportive that actions are taken to support the elderly in Singapore.

Approximately how many people did you share your story of change with?

20-50

Briefly share your plan to sustain the impact of your project?

If our app is created, we aim to have more outreach programmes to teach the elderly how to use our app. From there, we could also find out how to improve our app.

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