Community driven creative supports elderly

Community driven creative supports elderly

Amesha McDonald is a student at the University of the Sunshine Coast studying a Bachelor of Design and visual communication. Now in her final semester, she is very excited to graduate and is ready to start her career working in the industry.    

Amesha has been involved in the creative home project through UniSC. The creative home project is held at the Immanuel Gardens retirement home, where it strives to create a more engaging and fun home life for the residents. Loneliness and infrequent visits from often distant family members, and a host of other things, can significantly impact many of the residents. This often leads to depression and a reduced quality of life, which Amesha and her team aim to reduce.   

When asked what the aim of the project was she responded “Making the residents lives better. They have commented a few times saying it’s pretty lonely and boring …having the animation walk gets them out do exercise plus is more engaging, it sort of distracts them a bit more.”   

Amesha and her peers visit the retirement home every week. The group members have formed connections with the residents throughout this time and have also done some workshops with the residents such as painting workshops and photography walks. Amesha’s compassion towards the residents, and her talent for design, makes her perfect for this project.   

“They are all so lovely and had the best time… they really appreciate the company,” she says.    

Utilizing their skills in design, Amesha and her team members are creating an animation walk through the retirement village. The residents will walk through the village and there will be QR codes  which they can open up through their iPads or smartphones. When they open them up, beautiful animations will pop up and they can walk through the garden or building and view them through their camera, similar to a VR experience . The team is also creating a video that collates photos of the residents, as well as video footage of the residents talking about things they particularly like or enjoy about life at Immanuel Gardens.   This audio will be featured in the animation experience, creating a deeper sense of immersion.    

Amesha’s dedication to the project and her studies at UniSc indicates the promising career as a designer she will have when she graduates in July.   

“Design is something that I am passionate about, it’s something I find very enjoyable … and there’s so much creative freedom, which I love,” Amesha says.   

Writes Isabella MacDonald .  
Photos: Courtesy of the designer.