http://hdl.handle.net/10468/273 2017-09-01T04:19:28Z 2017-09-01T04:19:28Z Fox, Siobhan Kenny, Lorna Day, Mary Rose O'Connell, Cathal Finnerty, Joe Timmons, Suzanne http://hdl.handle.net/10468/3929 2017-05-29T09:20:57Z 2017-04-10T00:00:00Z

Exploring the housing needs of older people in standard and sheltered social housing Fox, Siobhan; Kenny, Lorna; Day, Mary Rose; O'Connell, Cathal; Finnerty, Joe; Timmons, Suzanne Objective: Our home can have a major impact on our physical and mental health; this is particularly true for older people who may spend more time at home. Older people in social (i.e., public) housing are particularly vulnerable. Housing options for older people in social housing include standard design dwellings or specially designed “sheltered housing.” The most suitable housing model should be identified, with older people consulted in this process. Method: Survey of older people (aged ≥60) living in standard or sheltered social housing. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS Version 22. Results: Overall, 380 surveys were returned (response rate = 47.2%). All older people had similar housing needs. Those in sheltered housing were more satisfied with the physical home design and reported more positive outcomes. Older people in standard housing were less likely to have necessary adaptations to facilitate aging-in-place. Discussion: Older people in standard housing reported more disability/illnesses, are worried about the future, and felt less safe at home. However, few wanted to move, and very few viewed sheltered housing as an alternative, suggesting limited knowledge about their housing options. Future social housing designs should be flexible, that is, adaptable to the needs of the tenants over time.

2017-04-10T00:00:00Z Cronin, James G. R. http://hdl.handle.net/10468/272 2011-04-13T10:43:41Z 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z

Excavating the future: taking an 'archaeological' approach to technology Cronin, James G. R. This is an invited essay review of titles and new editions on media culture published by MIT Press. The titles are Caleb Kelly Cracked Media: The Sound of Malfunction (MIT Press, 2009); Paul Virilio The Aesthetics of Disappearance (MIT Press, 2009); Carrie James Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media (MIT Press, 2009). The leitmotif threading the three texts under review is the socio-cultural impact of technological mediation on the processing and dissemination of information. Technologies are tools of transformation both through practical usage and ideological construction. For Caleb Kelly, turntablism mediates the expanded soundscapes so emblematic of the twentieth century's 'sonic turn', for Paul Virilio, hypermodernity is played out via the cinema screen through immersive moments of accelerated vision, while, for Carrie James, the computer screen is the locus for questioning constructions of the networked self. Already in the first decades of the twenty-first century we are on the cusp of a proliferation of enhanced participatory cultures mediated through user generated content -- a digital hive mind. The experience of technology is not neutral it changes the rate and flow of information and in so doing it changes us in many imperceptible ways. Adopting an 'archaeological' lens challenges deterministic approaches to media history and may even assist us in mapping alternative futures.

2011-03-01T00:00:00Z