Senior Capstone Project

Old age care has undergone a rapid shift in the United States.
That shift is largely due to the changing expectations of women in the workplace, the increase of care facilities, and the increasing lifespan.

During this project I have focused on China and the United States systems by comparing and contrasting their approach to elder care.

Why An Infographic?

I decided to make an infographic as a way to summarize and simplify some of the information I got. One of the many struggles family members face when making the decision to move their elder family members into care facilities is understanding all of the difficult and sometimes conflicting information. I hope that this infographic could function as a starting point for understanding how the old age care industry started and what types of care are available.

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When researching the shift from at-home to institutional elder care, one thing that stuck out to me was the newfound inaccessibility of many art forms. I am a fiber artist, and I learned how to sew through my older female relatives. Crafts are rarely taught at schools, unlike fine arts, so if you want to learn how to crochet, knit, sew, or any other art form, you have to find someone who already knows how to do it and who can teach you.
These arts were traditionally knowledge passed down through generations. You learned how to sew from your mother, who learned from her mother, and so on. Now though, fiber arts as a whole are dying out because not enough people have been taught them. This is another symptom of the shift we culturally have made away from closer family units.
This art piece is meant to symbolize the disconnect between older and younger generations by bridging that gap. The dress is made of cotton printed with tree branches, mimicking neurons. The dress is all white, except for the sleeves which are black velvet with handmade clay buttons depicting green vines. The materials used to make the dress were intentionally chosen to incorporate elements that reminded me of the brain to explore the theme of the acquisition of knowledge.

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Check out my research paper!