Project
vitality lab
The Caring Neighbourhood: A Story of Listening, Learning, and Co-Creating Care in Gein
It Started with a Question, Not a Solution
What does it really mean to grow older in a changing world?
In The Caring Neighbourhood project, we didn’t begin with ideas or blueprints. We began with curiosity—and a deep desire to understand how elderly residents in Gein live, care, and connect.
We asked.
We listened.
We sat with stories of independence, pride, and quiet struggle.
Through conversations with residents, caregivers, and community leaders, we uncovered something powerful:
Care is everywhere—but often invisible.
It lives in neighborly gestures, informal visits, shared meals, and unspoken routines.
Finding the Gaps, Mapping the Ecosystem
In our early sprints, we immersed ourselves in Gein. We visited homes, Buurthuis Gein, Rochdale Housing, and the Learning Alliance. We mapped formal and informal care networks. We listened to coaches like Lia, and leaders like Wim—who reminded us that real change starts with real people.
We discovered three big truths:
- Elderly residents face challenges in mobility, isolation, and access.
- Existing systems are fragmented—full of goodwill, but lacking coordination.
- Many want to help—but don’t know how.
We explored global care models, walked resident journeys, created 6 empathy-based personas, and ran Crazy 8s ideation sessions. Out of this, we co-created three care scenarios—focusing on social isolation, skill-sharing, and rapid community response.
And something shifted.
We realized the real experts were not institutions—but the community itself.
Informal care was already thriving—it just needed support, recognition, and structure.
The Gein Care Network – A Living System for Human-Centered Care
In Sprint 3, we brought everything together. And out of community insights, collaboration, and creativity, we designed the Gein Care Network—a new, community-driven model of care.
A Three-Part Ecosystem
- Building Representatives
Trusted volunteers engage with elderly residents to understand their needs offering a human-first, tech-light way to keep stories flowing. - Neighborhood Data Center
A secure hub that turns stories into insight tracking trends and giving professionals the big picture they’ve been missing. - Community Hub Installation
A vibrant, interactive space to visualize community data, spark action, and bring together caregivers, students, doctors, and neighbours to co-design solutions.
This is more than a prototype. It’s a culture shift from disconnected systems to shared responsibility, from one-time projects to an ongoing ecosystem of trust, care, and collaboration.
What’s Next
We’re now moving into testing and co-refinement bringing the Gein Care Network to life with local partners, community champions, and those it’s meant to serve.
