Later Life Talkback - 8
 Talkback is a regular
feature in laterlife.com run by journalist and author Helen Franks.
Welcome to talkback 8
Read Helen’s views and ideas, then add your own by
emailing her on helen@laterlife.com. Whatever
your opinion on the subject under discussion, Helen wants to hear it. And in due course a
selection of replies will feature in talkback.
If you would like to suggest future topics for talkback, please
email Helen with the details. And remember you can also start your own forum discussion
thread by visiting the laterlife cafe
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| Hi, I’m Helen – your host on talkback. Like you,
I have fifty-plus interests which make for a varied lifestyle. Mine include a husband,
three grown-up children, two sons-in-law, four grandchildren and a father aged 97. I do
some charity work, enjoy walking in the country (hills, but not mountains), go to the gym,
attend yoga classes and a wonderful jazz dance class in which you forget the aerobic
effort as you exercise along to Old Blue Eyes. That’s as well as writing on health
issues. The novel will have to wait |
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| Talkback 8
DESIGNS ON US
 When my mother first found herself dependent on a
walking stick, she refused the one offered by the hospital, and used an ordinary brown
wooden walking stick with a curved handle, though it wasn't nearly as efficient.
I could sympathise with her. There's something so clinical about gadgets for older people.
Just look at a baby's pushchair and the average wheelchair. The former is usually bright
coloured and looks fun. The latter signals to the world that it is a piece of surgical
equipment.
I accept the fact that non-walking babies are assumed to be in a temporary situation
and non-walking adults are regarded as disabled, but don't see why manufacturers and
designers have to emphasise the miserable side of things. Likewise with zimmer frames, my
mother's walking stick and any other device designed for the elderly or disabled.
Why can't the equipment come in a choice of coloured anodised metal with contrast
plastic/rubbery bits rather than sombre grey matt finish with plastic to tone? Not only
would they be more cheerful, they'd be more visible, which could be useful for those with
fading eyesight.
The answer must be lack of imagination. Few designers think of designing for older
people. Few manufacturers commission them. No market for it, is their probable answer,
whereas everyone wants to buy equipment for babies and developmental toys for toddlers.
Who knows? Maybe there is a big untapped market out there for colourful, well-designed
gadgets that visiting relatives might buy when they visit people in residential homes or
send as birthday presents.
But it's not just the elderly and infirm who suffer from this lack of imagination. It's
also you and me, anyone over fifty. We have to make do with products designed for people
in their twenties and thirties and adapt ourselves to them.
One of my personal grouses is the small print on hair colouring packs, especially those
designed to cover grey hair. The instructions are impossible to read without glasses,
though most people using hair colouring to cover grey need reading glasses. Bigger print
would make the process considerably easier, avoiding wet, possibly stained spectacle
frames and lenses.
Tell us your grumbles about products that don't meet your needs. We'll pass them
on to manufacturers. Just email me at talkback - helen@laterlife.com
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Previous talkback topics
Helen would still like to hear your viewsTalkback index - for other topics in the series
Don't forget to take a look at Helen's Healthwise column too |
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