Adaptability of Housing for Home Care: Strategies and Design Solutions for Assistive Spaces and Technologies

The growing demand for home care among older adults calls for a rethinking of design strategies to make the home suitable as the “primary place of care.” This contribution presents the initial results of a research project conducted within the Age-It program, focused on the adaptability of domestic environments to home care activities and the potential integration of assistive technologies. Based on a person-centered and bio-psycho-social model, the study analyzes the interaction between frail users, caregivers, and the living space, with the aim of identifying the spatial and technological requirements necessary to support care activities in an integrated manner. The research methodology began with an analysis of user needs, with the goal of identifying environmental and technological requirements that characterize spaces used for home care. The outcomes of this process led to the definition of operational guidelines to support the design of adaptations in the areas most involved in care activities. These include recommendations for ensuring safety, comfort, usability, maintainability, and the integrability of assistive technologies, as well as the proposal of alternative design solutions for adaptation, which are qualitatively assessed based on their construction impact and compatibility with existing constraints. Such solutions aim to address the needs of both care recipients and caregivers in an integrated way, while promoting ageing-in-place even in conditions of reduced self-sufficiency. The study highlights the importance of a proactive and multidisciplinary approach to designing “care-ready” environments capable of responding to the evolving housing and health needs of the population.