The extent to which housing design can minimise levels of community caregiving has remained largely unmeasured. This paper reports the potential for home modifications to reduce caregiving in the peoples’ homes, particularly older people and people with a disability. It contributes to new knowledge in understanding how housing can play a role in community caregiving and acknowledges the role of the built environment in managing care levels in ageing societies. This paper analyses self-reported care data from 157 Australian community care recipients (average age: 72 years) who had received home modifications within the past 6 months. A before/after comparison of care provided revealed that home modifications reduced hours of care provided by 42% per week. More detailed analysis revealed that the positive association of home modifications with care reduction is stronger with informal care (46% reduction) followed by formal care (16% reduction). These results suggest the role that home modifications, and housing design in general, play in reducing care needs in a community setting.

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has been found to influence children’s health and behaviour, particularly conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This research aimed to ascertain whether housing IEQ impacted the symptoms of ADHD and its related behaviours. This study involved 435 parents of children and adolescents (aged 5–17) with ADHD residing in Australia. We utilised an online survey tool comprising the home version of the ADHD Rating Scale for Children and Adolescents and the Housing Environmental Quality Assessment Tool. The findings revealed that all the housing IEQ factors were associated with both the diagnosis and the severity of the symptoms. The results indicated that, for over one in ten children with ADHD (13.3%), the diagnosis was impacted by a collective contribution of air quality, acoustic quality, lighting quality, and the thermal comfort within their home. The air quality and the thermal comfort predicted a 4% variance in the severity of inattention. Additionally, air and lighting qualities predicted a 9.7% variance in the severity of hyperactivity-impulsivity, and all the factors of air quality, acoustic quality, lighting quality, and thermal comfort predicted a 10.9% variance in the severity of combined ADHD. In conclusion, this research provided insights into the importance of housing features and suggests that improving the housing indoor environmental quality, mainly thermal comfort, air, and lighting quality, could positively correlate with alleviating ADHD symptoms and severity among children and adolescents. Therefore, ensuring an appropriate indoor environmental quality should be prioritised in housing design, modification, and building, especially for those with ADHD.

Universal Design seeks to contribute to the sustainability and inclusivity of communities and co-design and participatory methods are a critical tool in this evolution. The fact that technology permeates our society is undeniable and the form and materials that technology takes in turn shape the basics of human life such as being able to shower and toilet oneself. In contrast, the various existing approaches to co-design have very different sorts of metaphysical, epistemological and normative assumptions behind them. As a result, design has recognised a set of problems surrounding the position of the “user” in design innovation. Additionally, there are many different perspectives on technology and the role of technology in co-design methods. Consequently, there are a number of different ways of conceiving of the “problem” of integrating technologies into co-design methods. Traditionally, participatory design has been viewed as merely the insertion of a more public dialog of the potential target market within technological design practices. Our research indicates that most if not all co-designers rely on their own personal and collective knowledge and experience and that if this is not actively explored as a part of a co-design methodology that both participation and innovation will be less than hoped for. For instance, assuming only known fixtures, fittings with current codes and standards is unlikely to result in product innovation.

Disability Access to the Built Environment: Web-Based On-Line Evaluation and Informatio Dissemination: 10.4018/978-1-878289-65-0.ch016: Identifying and removing architectural barriers to access for people with disabilities follows community recognition that people with disabilities share the