Yoni Lefévre
Sexuality and intimacy are rarely associated with aged care homes, but design researcher Yoni Lefévre believes these often-taboo topics deserve open conversation.
As such, she has spent the past three years exploring how to bridge the silences around these awkward, sensitive or overlooked areas in a PhD at KU Leuven and the University of Edinburgh. Lefévre interest in ageing can even be traced back many years, as far as her 2013 graduation project from DAE’s Communications Design pathway.
In this interview, writer and DAE alumna Lara Chapman speaks with Lefévre about how design research can foster meaningful, cross-generational dialogue and break down stereotypes.
Lara Chapman: You graduated Design Academy with a project called Grey Power that challenged ageism – a theme which has been core to your work ever since. Could you tell us about that project?
Yoni Lefévre: The photo series started by interviewing my mum’s older pedicure clients as I was researching ageing and what it means to be older in society. Then, I asked children to draw their grandparents doing an activity. Their funny, imaginative depictions – from gardening to playing tennis and even a grandparent with multiple arms for housework – inspired me. So, I translated those drawings into real-size images, making cartoon-like suits, printing the children’s graphics in large scale and working with a fashion designer, photographer and the pedicure clients as models.
I think the project spoke to people's imagination because they could see two worlds coming together. It aimed to change people's perspectives around ageing and was part of a bigger shift in the narrative of ageing where it was starting to be seen more positively.
LC: Then you continued to do more projects on ageing that were similarly anthropological in approach – there was another iteration of Grey Power in Taiwan, your masters’ project about cross-generational conversations, your roles as a design researcher at different studios and, now, your PhD. How did you end up doing a doctorate?
YL: Yes, the red thread through my work has always been ageism. The PhD was a bit spontaneous, I wasn't even thinking about the possibility of doing one then saw an opportunity advertised around ageing and sexuality. I was very familiar with working with older adults in a participatory manner by this stage but the topics of intimacy and sexuality were new to me. Some people living in care homes still have a longing for intimacy or touch, expressing them should be allowed, in a respectful manner of course, but currently, most people are very uncomfortable with people having these feelings in this context. I like a challenge and am driven by creating a more democratic way of approaching difficult, loaded topics, so I thought, ‘Why not?’.
LC: How do you approach broaching these taboo topics?
YL: A lot of it is about building relationships and trust. As a participatory researcher, I had to learn to become vulnerable and get comfortable with going into situations that I have no clue how to navigate because generating new knowledge about taboo topics is a case of trial-by-error. I often compare it to driving in the dark without lights. You are leaning on gut feelings – I think I'm going in the right direction, I think this is appropriate – but then it's really about hoping for the best. Some things work and you build on them, some things don’t and can create awkward situations. Overall, I’ve begun to understand that people’s negative responses are not always directed at me but to their own discomfort with the topics of intimacy and sexuality themselves which, in the setting of care homes, can be especially difficult.
LC: How do you develop these skills of navigating in the dark?
YL: I would say that one of the main things I learnt at DAE was resilience which has really helped me. On the bachelor’s programme, it could be heartbreaking when you’d put all this work into a project and made yourself vulnerable but it didn’t turn out how you’d hoped or the feedback was very critical. You build a thick skin to criticism, unfamiliarity and uncertainty and learn to trust your gut feelings and stay close to your creative practice. Eventually, these experiences helped me develop an understanding and confidence in my creative path. I think that's why the DAE community is quite strong, we could sometimes all feel like the ship was sinking but everyone was cheering each other on.
"You are leaning on gut feelings – I think I'm going in the right direction, I think this is appropriate – but then it's really about hoping for the best."
LC: On a practical level, how do you undertake the research using participatory design in the care homes?
YL: My first year involved volunteering in a care home in Belgium, building trust and learning by doing. I interviewed residents and staff, often asking them questions they’d never been asked before, like how they describer or experience sexuality. Care staff also play a big part in my research. How can you facilitate and support staff to create a space for discussion where there was none before?
I use cultural probes and objects as ways of starting or shaping the conversations. For example, I introduced a Polaroid camera to capture objects or moments they found intimate. Another tool was a deck of cards I designed with specific terms like flirting, kissing, same-sex marriage, oral pleasure and sexual intercourse. I asked: how do you prioritise these? What do you miss? What do you find important now?
We had multiple conversations and built a language together, learning a lot about intimacy from each other – it was actually quite positive. This was in Belgium, then I went to Scotland as it’s a joint degree across two universities and there was a big cultural difference.
LC: How so?
YL: Being Dutch, I’m used to directness and historically liberal norms and Belgium is quite similar. In Scotland, attitudes are more conservative. When I mentioned the word ‘intimacy’ in care homes, there was a specific fear in people's eyes – “Oh my God, what is she going to ask!?”.
As a designer, I was able to be critical in that moment, thinking: “Okay, these methods are not helping these residents.” So over the next week, I changed focus shifting to more metaphorical approaches—like inviting women to make flower bouquets and designing a tablecloth printed with questions and drawings about female sexuality. The flower metaphor helped ease the conversation, allowing residents to engage them with more fun, laughter and comfort.
Recently, I did a new study in the Belgium home, organising a series of activities that slowly built up towards discussing intimacy, more explicit topics and eventually, a demonstration around sex toys. We started with a volunteer from the Women's Museum discussing historical objects with links to intimacy and womanhood. Then, I showed a documentary about an older woman who is exploring her sexuality and we did some creative expressive sessions such as live model drawings. I’m not sure if I will be able to do that in Scotland.
LC: How did people respond?
YL: The storytelling aspect sparked very interesting discussions and by the end, the participants felt comfortable enough to make jokes and open up.
For example, one resident asked the others: “Can you imagine that I haven’t had sex for 30 years?”. People empathised saying things like, “Yes I can imagine – I'm 94 and it’s been more than 40 years.” While those still in relationships said they couldn’t imagine. One woman said, “Oh, I would like it to feel the tingling from below, again”. It shows that just because they're in a care home doesn't mean they don't have those feelings anymore.
