Abstract
This paper advances a decolonised understanding of care within design research by examining how relational and culturally grounded practices shape engagements with older adults in Thailand’s rapidly aging society. Drawing on the Monday Museum creative ageing initiative in Bangkok’s Khlong Bang Luang neighbourhood, the study critiques Western-centric framings of care that privilege clinical, individualised, or outcome-driven approaches. Fieldwork and co-design activities with elderly residents reveal that care emerges as a relational practice embedded in local cultural norms, expressed through attentiveness, reciprocity, and shared responsibility. The paper introduces “Familiness” as a Thai, culturally situated framework that embodies warmth, flexibility, and family-like connection, enabling trust-building and adaptive collaboration between designer researchers and participants. By foregrounding familiness as both ethical stance and methodological practice, the study contributes to decolonising design research and offers an alternative lens for understanding care in community-based, creative ageing contexts.
Keywords
familiness, care, decolonising design, creative ageing, design research
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1947
Citation
Teerapong, K., and Natakun, B. (2026) Decolonizing Care in Design Research: Familiness and Relational Practices from Creative Ageing in Thailand, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1947
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Decolonizing Care in Design Research: Familiness and Relational Practices from Creative Ageing in Thailand
This paper advances a decolonised understanding of care within design research by examining how relational and culturally grounded practices shape engagements with older adults in Thailand’s rapidly aging society. Drawing on the Monday Museum creative ageing initiative in Bangkok’s Khlong Bang Luang neighbourhood, the study critiques Western-centric framings of care that privilege clinical, individualised, or outcome-driven approaches. Fieldwork and co-design activities with elderly residents reveal that care emerges as a relational practice embedded in local cultural norms, expressed through attentiveness, reciprocity, and shared responsibility. The paper introduces “Familiness” as a Thai, culturally situated framework that embodies warmth, flexibility, and family-like connection, enabling trust-building and adaptive collaboration between designer researchers and participants. By foregrounding familiness as both ethical stance and methodological practice, the study contributes to decolonising design research and offers an alternative lens for understanding care in community-based, creative ageing contexts.