︎ CultivAge:
Cultivating Cultural Aging
Cultivating culturally relevant and enriching communities to help diverse aging people age in place in ways that can uplift their cognitive health, preserve their heritage, and give them a sense of community.
By Fatema Almoamen ︎, Patrick Nguyen Burden ︎, Meera Kumar ︎, Srinjayee Saha ︎,
Who
Eyes closed, he’s back home, back in the Middle East, back where the elderly were put on pedestals by the youth of Iraq. Eyes opened, and he’s here, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, longing for a trace of his Middle Eastern roots. Jibamu, an 81-year-old Iraqi immigrant, yearns for a community that celebrates his vibrant culture that simultaneously fosters aging-in-place. Since his immigration, Jibamu’s son, Codutabin, has been his anchor for cultural integration- but what happens after Codutabin gets married and leaves his father? How can Jibamu become his own anchor? As an elder, the Arab diaspora has proved to be both challenging and nurturing to his assimilation into the West. Markets aren't walkable, Mosques don’t exist at every corner, and elders are rarely consolidated by their youth, however, a sense of community is out there and CultivAge pursues it.
Eyes closed, he’s back home, back in the Middle East, back where the elderly were put on pedestals by the youth of Iraq. Eyes opened, and he’s here, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, longing for a trace of his Middle Eastern roots. Jibamu, an 81-year-old Iraqi immigrant, yearns for a community that celebrates his vibrant culture that simultaneously fosters aging-in-place. Since his immigration, Jibamu’s son, Codutabin, has been his anchor for cultural integration- but what happens after Codutabin gets married and leaves his father? How can Jibamu become his own anchor? As an elder, the Arab diaspora has proved to be both challenging and nurturing to his assimilation into the West. Markets aren't walkable, Mosques don’t exist at every corner, and elders are rarely consolidated by their youth, however, a sense of community is out there and CultivAge pursues it.
Why
Jibamu, an 81-year-old Iraqi immigrant, yearns for a community that celebrates his vibrant culture that simultaneously fosters aging-in-place. Since his immigration, Jibamu’s son, Codutabin, has been his anchor for cultural integration- but what happens after Codutabin gets married and leaves his father?
How
The dominance of cultural hegemony has led older immigrants to “experience higher levels of loneliness than those who arrive at younger ages, because of pressures such as insertion into a new and unfamiliar environment, which increases both loneliness and the risk of depression”.
What
An interactive mobile app with built-in features that interacts with a student’s location, schedule, and social network to provide personalized reminders and recommendations for building daily “micro-movement” habits.
Now: The Community Caravanw
An intervention that could be integrated now is the community caravan, a bus and mobile service that brings seniors to cross-cultural events across town, especially around neighborhoods that are less walkable. This may include personalized service to and from common stops relevant to culturally diverse populations: cultural centers, religious sites, and downtown restaurants. The caravan is equipped with translation services and interactive components that encourage bus riders to interact with one another. The seats are front-facing to encourage conversation.
Near: The Multicultural Community Center
A one-stop “shop” location for the community’s needs, offering not only recreational activities but a host of events to help bridge multiple cultures and generations together. The space would be conducive to hosting larger events like multi-language bingo, silent disco, foreign film features, and potlucks. There’s a cafe, lots of comfortable tables and seating that can be moved, a projector for movies, etc.The center is run by staff but also takes community volunteers—Jibamu spends his time crafting a playlist of his favorite songs for the silent disco, offers his children/grandchildren’s recipes to the cafe, and hosts a movie night commemorating his family’s favorite movie.
Far: The Bio-me - A Multicultural Memory Mall / Museum: “Cross-Cultural Community Biomes”
“A biome is an area classified according to the species that live in that location. Temperature range, soil type, and the amount of light and water are unique to a particular place and form the niches for specific species allowing scientists to define the biome.” The biome would be an adaptable space based on your memories, with blank canvas stores that can give you prompts and instill both personal memories and cultural moments into creating specific “sets” that people can visit and interact with. Each space is functional and acts as a “living” room, that adapts with a community, depending on how people interact with it, but it allows users to recreate spaces that hold meaning for them and places they would like to convene with others.
Visualizations of Proposals
So What
Our interventions will help seniors like Jibamu access cultural resources so that he doesn’t feel marginalized. It will eliminate social barriers to forming a community so that diverse seniors don’t have to age in isolation and will foster social and participatory exchanges that engage their brain
Design To Outcomes
Design to Outcomes Graphic
Links to Follow:
︎︎︎Two Page Report
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Works Cited
- Angel JL, Buckley CJ, & Sakamoto A (2001). Duration or disadvantage? Exploring nativity, ethnicity, and health in midlife. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 56(5), S275–S284.
10.1093/geronb/56.5.S275
- Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W. (2001). A model of destination-language acquisition:
Application to male immigrants in Canada. Demography, 38(3), 391-409.
https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2001.0025
- Bardach, S. , Benton, B. , Walker, C. , Alfred, D. , Ighodaro, E. , Caban-Holt, A. & Jicha, G. (2019). Perspectives of African American Older Adults on Brain Health. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders, 33 (4), 354-358. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000335.
- “Biomes.” National Geographic. Accessed November 11, 2023.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/resource-library-biomes/