BACKGROUND: falls and fall-related injuries are common in older adults, have negative effects on functional independence and quality of life and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and health related costs. Current guidelines are inconsistent, with no up-to-date, globally applicable ones present. OBJECTIVES: to create a set of evidence- and expert consensus-based falls prevention and management recommendations applicable to older adults for use by healthcare and other professionals that consider: (i) a person-centred approach that includes the perspectives of older adults with lived experience, caregivers and other stakeholders; (ii) gaps in previous guidelines; (iii) recent developments in e-health and (iv) implementation across locations with limited access to resources such as low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: a steering committee and a worldwide multidisciplinary group of experts and stakeholders, including older adults, were assembled. Geriatrics and gerontological societies were represented. Using a modified Delphi process, recommendations from 11 topic-specific working groups (WGs), 10 ad-hoc WGs and a WG dealing with the perspectives of older adults were reviewed and refined. The final recommendations were determined by voting. RECOMMENDATIONS: all older adults should be advised on falls prevention and physical activity. Opportunistic case finding for falls risk is recommended for community-dwelling older adults. Those considered at high risk should be offered a comprehensive multifactorial falls risk assessment with a view to co-design and implement personalised multidomain interventions. Other recommendations cover details of assessment and intervention components and combinations, and recommendations for specific settings and populations. CONCLUSIONS: the core set of recommendations provided will require flexible implementation strategies that consider both local context and resources.

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With personalised knitwear many of the drawbacks of mass-produced garments can be tackled, e.g. bad fit, overstock, lack of individualisation. A major challenge with personalised knitwear, however, is that the customer can not physically try the garment before purchase. Virtual fitting is an emerging area that has the potential to replace physical fitting. This paper addresses the development of two different procedures for the virtual fitting of a sweater. For online shopping a 3D avatar was used based on Do It Yourself measurements of the body (with the help of statistical based prediction of body measurements). For the in-shop tool a 3D avatar was made based on body measurements taken from the customer by a skilled person or an advisor. To support both tools, a concept design of the interface was made based on Clo3D (design software for fashion) and tested. In both cases the digital garment on the avatar was evaluated by the test customer in terms of fit, the look and feel of the garment and was later (after the ‘ordered’ garment was knitted) compared with the customer wearing the real knitwear, to evaluate the consumer satisfaction with the final result as well as the user experience about the procedure.@en

Due to changes in foot morphology and the occurrence of foot deformities and foot pain with ageing, older people frequently wear ill-fitting shoes. This can lead to negative effects on comfort and mobility. A review of the literature was performed in Medline, Scopus and Embase with the aim (a) to evaluate the effects of shoes or shoe elements on comfort and mobility of older adults, (b) to summarise the evidence-based elements for a safe and comfortable shoe for older adults, and (c) from that, to compile those elements into design recommendations for a safe and comfortable shoe for older adults. Safe elements of footwear include proper anatomical fit, a well-fitting toe box, limited heel height, a broad enough heel, a firm insole and midsole, an outsole with sufficient tread, bevelled heel, firm heel counter with snug fit, and an easy and effective closing mechanism. We conclude that there is a need for shoe design specifically aimed at the foot morphology and demands of older people. The current shoe market should provide better availability of well-fitting shoes designed for the older foot and person.@en

The Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of the Delft University of Technology offers a bachelor’s degree education programme and three master’s programmes. Our students are lectured in ergonomics and learn to design and conduct research in ergonomics. In this paper we describe the development of methods to realise ergonomic fit mapping based on 3D anthropometrics and to educate students on this topic. Due to the increasing availability of 3D scan data, we enter the complex field of 3D anthropometry and statistical shape models, which is an increasingly popular mathematical representation for 3D human shape variation. These facilities and knowledge are particularly useful when it comes to products that should fit close to the human body. The use of 3D anthropometrics is explained and practiced throughout the different stages of complexity. It starts with the use of 1D and 2D anthropometric data, the application of percentiles and the DINED tool Ellipse to see the correlation between two different body dimensions and to determine the consequences for related product dimensions. It ends with the use of 3D anthropometric data for the design of a helmet for cyclists, by way of bi-variate based shape analysis of the head. We made efforts to lower the burden for students working with 3D scan data, for example by providing pre-processed 3D scan databases and casus specific measurement tables.

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Three-dimensional scanning technologies have brought great opportunities in ergonomic and product design education as well as research. Not only the anthropometric size but also the shape and posture of the human, form of a product, or interactions between the human and product obtained based on the 3D scanning have been usefully applied in product design. This chapter introduces a number of educational and research cases, which have been performed at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology. First, as ergonomics plays a big role in the product design process, but in a different and advanced way than before, we have broadly applied the emerging 3D scanning technology in our design education and research. Because the topic of “ergonomic design based on 3D scanning” have been taught in our education, the number of students who are using 3D human scans for their course work and/or graduate project has increased considerably. Some of our successful cases will be introduced in this chapter. Second, from the 3D scanning practices in our education, we concluded there is a need of a 3D scanner, especially for the human hand, that is both quick and accurate but is also capable of scanning parts that are normally hard to cover. Multiple final master projects have contributed to the development of a working prototype of an accurate and low-cost 3D hand scanner. Finally, based on our experience, techniques, methods, software, and relevant information that can support design education based on 3D human scans will be discussed.

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