The population ages rapidly in relation to birth rates in modern day and future Finland. The Finnish government supports and aids elderly so they can live at home for as long as possible. The need for services that support the wellbeing of elderly citizens has increased tremendously and engaging the elders in service planning and quality control is necessary. The goal of this thesis was to design motivational packages using the theory of service design as a guideline. The principals of this project were culture and leisure services of the city of Tampere and the Likioma project administered by Tampere City Mission and Vanhuspalveluyhdistys ry. Likioma project was approved to join Eloisa Ikä programme from 2012 to 2016.

The goal of the thesis was to design creative and motivational packages for elderly people living at home using the theory of service design as a guideline. A project group was founded to design these packages. The members of this group included parties mentioned above as well as artist, community artist and the author, an undergraduate student of crafts and recreation. The motivational packages were designed by interviewing and listening to elders. The purpose of the packages was to increase mobility and activity of elders in their homes, to support their feelings of dignity as members of the society and to produce community experiences. The packages were also designed to be a tool for homecare staff and volunteers so they could enrich and enhance encounters with the elderly.

This practicebased thesis is based on theories of motivation and service design. The work was limited to designing packages and cards for Likioma project, striving at increasing the mobility and activity of elders by motivational activity. To observe the elders’ activity and living environments, personalised interviews were conducted at their homes.

This report describes the process of designing the motivational packages, including the initial assessment and consideration of previously designed similar tools. The thesis project resulted in pocket cards for quick contact with the elderly and experiential and activity packages for longer sessions with the elders.