What happens when we stop designing activities for seniors and start designing meaningful roles with them? Open Village shows how user research helped reframe an underused nursing home garden into an ecosystem of contribution, purpose and community participation.

They are not just facilitators. They are the heartbeat of Open Village. Through simple daily moments, Auntie Lucy, Uncle Lim, and Auntie Ananda help create a more lively, purposeful, and connected nursing home community.

In many nursing homes, seniors are well cared for, but daily life can still become passive. Open Village was created to change that. It is a community-based model that helps seniors take on meaningful mini jobs with progression, while opening the nursing home to schools, volunteers, families, and partners through purposeful community engagement.