No Recreational Activities-An Area Of Concern

St. Mary's Old Age Home

St. Mary's Old Age Home

As a person reach a certain age and retire or move to new surrounding, they may socialize less and their physical activities also reduces. Activities play an important role helping them stay physically fit and live as fully as possible. Activities also help in having good and healthy interactions. they improve relationships,
But the design of the activities should also be kept in mind. they should not only be according to their preferences and needs, but also to engage their mind and body.
My area of concern in micro environment is to take care of this- their activities- engaging their mind, improving their memory, and engaging them in healthy conversations.
Before designing something and thinking of a solution there are points that has to be kept in mind:

• It should be interesting
• It should be cost-effective
• Its should not exhaust them- physically as well as mentally 
• The environment created should be positive and not negative
•  It should make them productive 

  

  photo from google

  
  

  

  photo from google

  
  

-Surbhi 

Pearl Academy, Noida

Area Of Concern

When we were  checking the place around and were researching on the micro areas, I suddenly noticed a nurse helping an old bedridden woman changing clothes. I saw how difficult and painful it was for her to do it. When i asked her she said she has got bed sores and these normal clothes with buttons and zippers make her very uncomfortable.
There I got my micro area of concern. Being a fashion student, I decided to construct a garment for her using a soft fabric and material which is comfortable for her which she can put on and off easily.

-SANYAM BATRA

Sketching The World Of Wisdom - by Surbhi

Surbhi Sardana
Pearl Academy

Sketches of St. Mary's Old Age Home - by Rahel

St Mary's home entrance
Sketch by- Rahel Peter

     

                                 St Mary's home kitchen

by- Rahel Peter

by- Rahel Peter

System and Management

BY- SANYAM BATRA
Pearl Academy, Noida

From Stakeholder's View

Who are stake holders? 

Stakeholder is a person, group or organization that interest from or concerns a place/institution. They affect and are affected by the actions, maintenance, objectives, conditions, etc of the institution.

They include people inside as well as outside the institution.  They have the power to impact and change the strategy.

Stakeholders in St. Mary's Old Age Home

By the above explanation, all the people,  for instance, the staff, the warden, the bishop, the old women living there and visitors count as Stakeholders. 

We all affect the working if the old age home. For eg. The staff is responsible for the cleanliness, hygiene,  Etc., visitors help economically as well as emotionally and the warden, manager are responsible for the management. If any of the above donot work properly it can change the working negatively.

By- Rahel Peter

Sketch by Surbhi Sardana

By- Surbhi Sardana 
     Pearl academy
           Noida

Visual Culture

Sketch by Ayesha Pasha

 

The building in which the old age home is located is over a 100 years old and thus , has a very rich look to it . It has high roofed rooms and open areas to walk around including a small park-like area which proves to be beneficial for its inmates . But , the colours of the walls are dull which can be changed to make the home a bit more lively and visually attractive and give it an energetic vibe to it .

The people at the home are very friendly and loving , even though they seem to be a bit eager to receive the same . 
Though there is a lot of room in the home but the rooms seem to be a little small . They are a little cramped up as every person has made their own small version of a kitchen in there rooms , they have a bed , a sofa set and a lot more . That one room is in fact their entire house .
Yet , as i saw everything with the eyes of a critic , the wonderful women living in the old age home didn't seem to complain much about anything .

By: Ayesha Pasha 
Pearl Academy , Noida 

Life Goals

Ms. Vidya Dayal, St. Mary's Old Age Home 

Name: Ms. Vidya
Age: 106
Unbelievable no?
But it's true. A 106 year old lady, Ms. Vidya, is an optimistic lady who has no illness and unlike most people, despite no family of her own, is gleeful and lighthearted. Inspite of the insolence shown by the warden and abominable behaviour of some she somehow with her modesty win everyone's heart.
Even not being able to walk doesn't stop her. Everyday with the help of her attendant she goes out and chat with and cheer everyone up.
Her liveliness shows it does not matter how negative the world is, how worse the situations are, we should never give up.

Surbhi Sardana 
Pearl Academy 

THE STORY OF UNDYING HOPE!

Ms. Shinde is an 85 years old working women living in the old age home since she was 45. She did not marry and her siblings work in some far off places. She says that this place is blessed and she has seen a lot of problems happening there but they all are capable to come over them. For which she has a story.

Long time ago, one night there was no electricity and the women next to her room went to the common washroom in the backyard. After a while they noticed that she didn't come, they wanted to check but all of them were frightened because there were some women died there and they believe their soul still exists. Finally when they couldn't resist, they went and they saw that women was lying in the backyard and a tall handsome man standing besides, who was throwing light on her from his hand. She addresses him as angel. And since then they believe that this angel is there for all there problems and takes care of them.

Im sure this story sounds completely fiction but i didn't want to be pragmatic there because the curiosity and excitement in her eyes were showing a positive energy and a belief. I didn't want her to loose her only undying hope.

MS. SHINDEY

BY- SANYAM BATRA

SOCIO CULTURE!

The women in the old age home are really sweet and polite. The socio culture includes how the people interact and the activities they do in their day to day lives. The women there are always cooperative to us and talk in a humble manner. Since they feel lonely, they are always glad to see us. One of the women is always seen knitting. Since she is bedridden, she says she can pass her time well. Another lady has a hobby of gardening and so she has a small garden of her own in the backyard of her room. Most of the women are socially active and are always seen busy in their hobbies.

BY- SANYAM BATRA

Product Culture and it's Significance

Product culture is a conceptual model if defining the culture of people living in a society according to aesthetics, artistic and symbolic values.

The products that affect the living of women living in an Old Age Home would mostly comprise of beds, stools, stairs, tables, sticks/walkers, television. Radio, etc.
What we observed while our field visit was that

• Most of the things were old and rusty. 
• Many assets were put aside and were  not in in  use. 
• The beds were not according to their comfort and requirements. 
• Since the room's were small there was a huge storage problem. 

There were numerous other problems but had a great significance in their lives.

Sketch by Surbhi Sardana 

Surbhi Sardana
Pearl Academy, Noida

St Mary's home  

Present

At time the home has 9 ladies. Now its open for aged ladies, not for children and young ladies. Therefore its now known as St. Mary's Old Age Home.
It has more than 30 rooms. They have a chapel in which they can pray and worship God.
It is inside the premises of Victoria girl's school. 
It is also now considered as a heritage site by the government.
By- Rahel
     Pearl Academy
     Noida

The Beginning...

St. Mary's Home

History
St.Mary's home was started in the year 1872 by a young missionary Mrs. Priscilla Winter caring for the sick, poor and lonely women of the community. The present, as it is now was built in the year 1900. The Diocese of Delhi was established in 1947, the home became a part of the Diocese, the C.N.I (Church of north India).
The house was selected for an award given by the DDA (Delhi development authority ) in 1997 for the 'best maintained century old building'.

      Lunch time at St.Mary's Home.(1931)

 (SOURCE:Project Canterbury,The Cambridge Mission to Delhi ~by Lilian F. Henderson )

  Children sitting outside kitchen area. (1931)

                             (SOURCE:Project Canterbury,The Cambridge Mission to Delhi     ~   by Lilian F. Henderson )

St Mary's home, described by one missionary with the telling phrase , ''the waste paper basket of the mission''.
(SOURCE: Line from Religion and Irreligion in Victorian society book)


By- Rahel
Pearl Academy Noida

Week 2

On the second phase of our research, our agenda had moved to interview people. We interacted with all the people living there, heard their problems had an amazing time with them. Different people had their own different reasons to be there. Those lonely woman were extremely fascinated and glad to share the story of their lives with us.

BY- SANYAM BATRA

Week 1

On the very first day of our research, we had a few questionnaires with us in order to make our survey easy. The agenda of week 1 was only to analyse the place, infrastructure, and the management. We got some questionnaires filled with the management and checked out the entire place.

BY- SANYAM BATRA

Name    : 

Age     :
Gender  : Male        Female  



1. What is the average age of people who stay here?
50-60   60-70   70-80   Above 80

2. Do you earn a living?
Yes     No

3. How often do your relatives visit/call?
Often   Sometimes   Rarely   Never

4. How is the attitude of staff towards you?
Excellent   Good   Average   Bad

5. What is the quality of food you get>
Excellent   Good   Average   Bad

6. Is tha food provided according to your health needs?
Yes     No

7. Do you get ample amount of food?
Yes     No   Sometimes

8. What has led to the change in the attitude of young generation towards you?
Economic Syructure   Urbanisation   Modernisation   Erosion of social values

9. Do they provide you with proper sanitary in washroom?
Yes     No

10. Is the staff always available for you?
Yes     No

11. Do you get medicines on time?
Yes     No

12. How often do orgaisations/people visit you?
Often   Sometimes   Rarely

13. How often do you interact with the outside world?
Often   Sometimes   Rarely   Never

14. Do the management take care of your hobbies and interests?
Yes     No   Sometimes

15.Are the beds and other products comfortable?
Yes     No

16. In the scale of 1-10 rate the overall organization.

Why Old Age Home?

Sketch by Ayesha Pasha

We the students of Pearl Academy, Noida are extremely fortunate as we got an opportunity to research and work on an old age home for our module project. The project focuses on going to a site, analysing the place, identifying problems and developing design solutions for it. Since we got an old age home as our subject, after visiting a numerous homes we finalised St. Mary's Old Aged Home. One of the main reason to select this place was that it is historical and was built in the pre independence period. It is located in Tees Hazari. Most of the women living there have been working in the St. Stephens Hospital since their retirement which is located nearby. The women living there are so interactive and have always been cooperative to us. We are really looking forward to learn a lot from these ladies throughout our project.

The main aim of this project is to create and develop learner's sensitivity as a designer and then encourage them to take the responsibility in identifying issues faced by society and culture in a macro/micro environment. We are gonna use basic research methods to collect information and then apply design process to formulate potential design proposals and solutions.

Sanyam Batra
Pearl Academy, Noida

This blog is about our experience of interviewing some ladies, according to Shakespeare, in their age of second childishness of an Old Age Home in Delhi and analyzing their problems to find out creative solutions.
BY- Surbhi