Design and Ergonomics for the Development of Accessible Spaces for People with Parkinson's Disease

• Grant number: 23/11110-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Industrial Design
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Augusto Barbieri
• Grantee: Luiz Gustavo Souza da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes, Comunicação e Design (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects about 1% of the population over 60 years of age and is characterized by the progressive occurrence of motor and non-motor symptoms, which end up generating, in people, difficulties in walking and carrying out daily activities. With a view to meeting the needs and capabilities of each person, design and ergonomics are relevant to the area through approaches such as Human-Centered Design (HCD) The main objective of the work is to raise assistive technology tools (TA), in order to provide autonomy and security in the daily activities of people with PD. For this, the methodologies adopted for carrying out the work are divided into three stages, the first being a quantitative assessment of the factors that generate difficulties in mobility and risks of falls in internal spaces for individuals with PD; the second will analyze the AT that can be applied in the residential environment to assist in the mobility of individuals in order to create model environments for the application of the proposed use of AT along with a new layout of the environments; the third, the qualitative validation of the proposals through semi-structured interviews with specialists in the field of physiotherapy and occupational therapy. With this, it is expected that the implementation of specific guidelines for residential environments for people with PD will reduce architectural barriers, resulting in greater autonomy and improving mobility and usability in the places.