Wearcare Presentation on Social Isolation for 19th November 2019 Team 8 - Victoria Walton & Abigal Betteney

2. How would an
individual feel
isolated when
medicating?
Like they’re an
inconvenience for having
to medicate.
Nobody can relate to them
due to their medical issues.
They may feel lonely
having to leave the room
to medicate.
Nobody around them can
understand.
They cannot join social
situations their friends are
able to due to their illness.
They may feel like an
outcast because their
situation is unique.
Their friends may not
encourage them to go and
medicate.
Western medication is
frowned upon in some
societies.

3. How could this
impact their
life?
The issues stated previously are primary factors into
mental health deterioration.Though social isolation
isn’t physically able to be diagnosed, it is a gateway
into depression, anxiety and even cardiovascular
failure.
Isolation can often feel like a one way road.Without
the proper guidance and support of people, you
continue to journey down it on your own.
Exclusion from a social situation, and being alone can
have physical issues too, such as feeling cold when
experiencing isolation.

4. How can this
be changed?
How can we,
as designers,
help?
In order to change
individual isolation as a
whole, society would
have to reform itself.
We’d have to turn the
concept of socialisation
on its head. So for us, its
not a case of looking at
trying to cure loneliness,
but to try and prevent it
happening.
Our main goal is to try
and prevent an
individual having to
leave a social situation
in order to go and
medicate.
Though this may differ
on individual need and
situation, we hope that
our preliminary
concepts can further
develop into prevention
of social isolation.

5. Factors into
social isolation
mind-map.

6. The reason for
our research
 During our research we came across the prevalent
issue of reduction in socialisation in those with
allergies, most notably food allergies – as a wide range
of social situations consist of food and drinks.This
means that for individuals who suffer with allergies to
certain foods, social situations such as these are not as
simple to those who do not.
 Individuals with allergies may experience great
difficulty attending social events such as birthday
parties, weddings, dates, or even day to day situations
as they have to constantly be extremely careful what
they eat.
 Because of this, we have been thinking of ideas that
could help those with food allergies eliminate some of
the stress and worry when it comes to eating food they
may not have personally prepared.

7. What primary
research have
we
conducted?
Our primary research is qualitative questionnaires with a sample of 18 to 30
year olds. We are aiming to question approximately 35 individuals, all of
different genders, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Our sample was broad in order to get a variety of results, we encouraged
people to be truthful, in order to increase the validity of our results. We hope
to see a correlation of those with allergies and those who tend to adhere
from their medication.
We chose to conduct our research in relation to individuals with or without
allergies, as it is an issue that is becoming more prevalent in society today.
(Note:This prevalence may be due to social media allowing more individuals
to have a voice and express their medical issues.)

8. Re-defining
our 6
cornerstones
of social
isolation in
regards to our
research.

9. What secondary research have we conducted?
Our secondary research is predominantly journals of other case studies. Alongside
this, we sourced books that are more generic relating to loneliness.
We began by looking into isolation and loneliness broadly, starting by reading a very
insightful book by Olivia Sagan and Eric D Miller – “Narratives of Loneliness” (2017)
This book not only contained case studies of all ages, ranging from toddlers to
elderly. But also discussed how society can help in order to eliminate the primary
factors contributing to loneliness.

10. What secondary research have we conducted?
Then we sourced journals more suited towards the idea of isolation due to illness.We
looked at “Loneliness in Children and Adolescents With Chronic Physical Conditions:
A Meta Analysis” (2017) by Marlies Maes,WimVan den Noortgate and others.This
journal not only indicated how disability can effect someone's social interaction, but it
also highlighted how individuals react to disabilities in social environments.
Next came a journal very specific to our project idea. “Quality of life in patients with
food allergy” (2016) by Darió Antolín-Amérigo, Luis Manson and others.Their samples
included children, adolescents and adults, and related very close to the primary research
we were conducting.They also indicated there was a social differentiation.This time it
was between child carers.Those who had experience of medicating children, and those
carers who had not experienced children needing medication.

11. Types ofAllergies
Here, we researched into the
different types of allergies and
their causes.
This ultimately broadened our
scope in regards to research; no
longer were we just defined by
the idea of food allergies, we
could progress further into
issues like pollen, pollution and
even insect bites.
In addition, documenting each
specific type of allergy helped us
define how each one has a
reaction on the body.

12. Symptoms;
biological and
psychological
An individuals reaction to an
allergen can completely depend on
a number of factors. Be it the
allergen itself, the environment,
medication or previous exposure to
the allergen. And many more.
These symptoms can range in
severity, from a simple runny nose
and itchy eyes, to anaphylaxis
shock and raspatory issues.
These symptoms also vary in
longevity –They can last minutes,
to hours and even days. Seasonal
allergies can even last months – hay
fever being the biggest contributor
to seasonal allergies.

13. The medicating of allergies
 Most minor allergy symptoms can be treated with antihistamines, corticosteroids,
or decongestants.These are primarily tablet form, and are taken as and when the
symptoms of an allergy arise.Though antihistamines can be taken for a longer
period due to seasonal allergies.
 Next there are long term medications, such as corticosteroid creams and
immunosuppressants.These are quite invasive treatments that physically alter the
human body to help treat allergies.
 Finally there are immediate medications, required for extreme symptoms such as
anaphylaxis.Though these tend to be administered by a medical professional
rather than the individual themselves.

14. AIBI
Anaphylaxis Prevention System for
Children
Aibi is a design concept that consists of a
redesigned epinephrine auto-injector that is
more portable and easier to use, a wearable
for kids to determine allergic reactions, and a
medical emergencies alert system to delegate
adults to take action in the case of emergency
situation.
Aibi is designed to help kids to defend against
allergies. By empowering elementary school
children to take action in the quick onset of
severe allergies,Aibi can be a critical step in
ensuring their survival.

15. TZOA
Wearable Air Quality Tracker
TZOA takes data from your immediate
environment in real-time and turns it into
actionable recommendations to keep you
healthy.
TZOA uses internal sensors to track your
environment throughout the day, providing
you with real-time information, city-wide
mapping, and a daily review.
Recommendations will help to change
behaviors and improve your quality of life.

16. Concepts and
designs
 Our first design idea is a small device (around 3cm long) which can
be inserted into food, and can detect what exactly is in it. It could
detect all ingredients or just specific ones to scan for an allergy
(eg if something contains nuts)
 The device can be connected to an app on a smartphone to then
display the nutritional data
 This can help people with allergies eat food they have not
prepared, such as in restaurants or other situations, as they
should not have to miss out but they need to be extra careful.

17. Concepts and
designs
 Because eating is an every day
occurrence, and so dealing with a food is
an every day nuisance.
This means that our device must be used
everyday.Therefore it is crucial for it to be
designed in a wearable way. Meaning
that whenever it is needed, it can be used.
 Some of our ideas to make this wearable
were creating a necklace or watch.The
device can be kept in or attached to the
jewelry aspect. This means that the
device can also be hidden or disguised if
needed; whilst also being easily
accessible

18. Concepts
and designs

19. Potential flaws
with this
design
Although we have an idea
in place with this design, it
is important to identify
that there are potential
faults to go with it. Some
of these include:
 The product must be connected to a
smartphone – so therefore the user
must own a smartphone
 The product is small and could easily
be lost, this could be expensive to
replace
 There is a potential hygiene issue
when it comes to food which would
need to be addressed – as putting a
device into food could make both the
device and the food unhygienic.
 The issue of how the device would be
connected to power/charged.
Basic example of an idea for an app
which could be connected to the
device – detailing nutritional
information

20. Thank you for your
time!
Further questions?