Design for elderly

Depending on the age of someone (elderly people) different needs may arise. As a person grows older then it is difficult for them to be able to perform some things that they used to in the past. Some people due to different illnesses may not be able to walk good or they may have tremor or they may not be able to see clearly. One of the first things that I would suggest for elderly people is the apartment that they would leave to be spacious. What I mean by this is to have a lot of space for someone who may have minor impairments or severe. For example, someone needing a help to walk around using a stick or other assistive tools may later on in his/her life use a wheelchair. If you use a wheelchair and there is not enough space in the apartment then it would be difficult to be able to move around. Additionally, I would suggest the person to leave in the ground floor in the case of this kind of impairment or if they live in an upper floor to have access to the elevator. Furthermore, I think that it would be very helpful for people using wheelchairs to have things placed not very high so that they can reach them. Therefore furniture would have to be adjusted for this kind of reason. I think that in the early elderly life of elderly people it would be easier for them to be able to take care of themselves alone and therefore if the furniture is in an appropriate height this would be helpful and not make them depend to others. Besides furniture, handles could be placed in an appropriate height so that a person with this kind of disability can access them.

Bathroom

A person using a wheelchair or a stick may encounter a problem when they want to take a shower in their bathroom therefore appropriate measures should be taken. I think that it would be better if there was a shower with a removable seat so that the person can sit there if they feel that they cannot stand up to take a shower. What I mean by a removable seat is that if we take into account that the person will spend his/her rest of his/her life in this apartment then in the beginning the impairment may not be so intense but later on it may increase. Therefore, if there was a removable seat, then the person when feels like using it, can adjust it in the corresponding place in the shower. Also, it would be good if there was a banister in the shower to help someone to stand up and to hold it.

If a person has other types of impairments, for example the person has problems with memory that increase over time, then it would be good if there were identifications in the room for the person to get around. For example like labeling different things in the apartment. Also, I think that depending other impairments of the person, the use of technology may be higher in order to be able to accomplish their goals. It may also be helpful for someone to use voice recognition so as to enter in their apartment or perform different tasks in it.

Assignment 4 – A universal design approach for design projects

First of all it’s important to make two things clear. The term universal design is hard to explain in a few sentences. In order to present a strategy document for a project leader, this term needs to be explained in a detailed way. Secondly the concept of a “design project” is also very broad. It could range from designing a type of furniture at IKEA to the development of a web site for a local car rental service. Hence, in order to come up with a strategy document one must account the fact that the term universal design is hard to understand for people without the expertise. It’s also important that such a document covers design in all kinds of projects. That being said, I would start the strategy document like this:

The concept of universal design

Universal design might be a hard concept to grasp at first. But once you get to know more about the concept you will realise that there is benefits as well. With universal design comes knowledge about various fields such as disabilities, usability, design and stigmatization. Design comes from our knowledge and experience in the form of ideas. But there is also a need to understand what we are designing and who we are designing it for. What is our target audience and is this audience going to change over time? Are we designing something that requires mobility? Could this design that we are creating be used by people that are blind or deaf? Is cognitive constraints going to be an issue for the user of this product? What is boils down to is the question; is this design usable for all users in our society? Is the design that we are working on considering physical, perceptual and cognitive impairments?

I think this is the key when it comes to the concept of universal design and this design approach. You get to question your idea and see it from a lot of different perspectives. Asking questions in the design process is a good thing. Sometimes the answer to these questions are not what we want them to be. Maybe some designs aren’t meant for all people but asking the questions in the design process will at least bring these issues up.

Universal design checklist

• Who is our target audience?
• Are this target audience going to change over time (for instance issues related to getting older)?
• Could this design be used by the elderly?
• Are we considering cognitive constraints?
• Does this design require mobility?
• Could people with a hard time seeing things or the blind use our design?
• Could people with a hard time hearing things or the deaf use our design?
• Could the user adjust our design for his/her needs? Is the product flexible?
• Could this design be used for people that are left handed?
• Or someone that have a problem with their hands?
• Is there a understandable documentation of our design included in the product?
• Is there someone that can’t use our design?

Conclusion

With time there will be a need to add more items to the checklist. Being a creative person within a design team one might come to think of more things that are important to think about. But just having a checklist and getting the team on the same page discussing these things would be an eye opener for many. Working in teams could be a huge advantage because it will give you the opportunity to test your thought and hear what others have to say. Interesting discussions about everything from disabilities to usability and universal design will lead to new questions and new ideas. Having a different perspective is something that should be valued. If there isn’t a large team to have these kinds of discussions, why not ask the user. Talk to your indented audience and find out what they want and what they think. Don’t be afraid to ask users from various kinds of backgrounds and be including and curious. Having an open mind isn’t a bad thing when it comes to new ideas and creativity. Let’s make designs that are for everybody in our society. Let’s be including. Let’s be open minded. Let’s design for everyone.

 

A Universal Design approach within a Design project

To work towards universal design when designing is sometimes hard to accomplish. Universal design is a type of design or way of designing, it is a process and a way of thinking. It is something that we have to understand from knowledge about our surrounding world and the people in it. A designer who wants to think more towards universal design needs to think in terms of designing for all potential users, design in an inclusive way where they include as many people as possible. And also in an non-excluding way by designing to exclude as few people as possible. Because of these different factors it can many times get quite hard to be able to fit universal design into every part of the design process. But even though it sometimes feels like a hard job to do, we still need to do it. We need to do it for all people in our society and for the sake of equality between people.

By involving non-excluding design into your projects there is some things to start thinking about. Why should we work more non-excluding in our projects and how should we do this? I will begin with some explanation to why it is important and also beneficial to start working towards a more non-excluding thinking in your projects.

By thinking more in a non-excluding way affects a lot of different factors. One of the biggest factor, that for me also is one of the most important ones, that should be an obvious thing for a designer to want to have is a bigger audience. A bigger set of users that want to use the design that you in your project is conducting. By working towards a more non-excluding process you will engage more and get more users because more people will be able to use the design that you conducted. This is both beneficial for you and for society because helping a bigger crowd will make society more equal. This would also be beneficial because by addressing more people with your design will give a greater outcome when it comes to economy. You have to produce more and will therefore sell more. But in the end it all comes down to including more people and helping more people in their everyday life. And this is possible with non-excluding design.

By using a non-excluding design thinking in your project can also help society by reducing stigmatization. It would help people avoid we and them when it comes to people who have or don’t have an impairment of any kind. It would also help people with integrity and anonymity because their impairment wouldn’t be so visual if they had an artifact with the same design as everyone else. Which for many people is important when it comes to adjusting into society when having an impairment.

So something to think about when starting working with a new project is to not only start the design by looking at what to design, instead look at the users and their problems in their everyday life. This is how we can begin to work towards a non-excluding design. By looking at the users you will find the needs that exists today. By also looking through a wider range of users its possible to see a wider range of problems and needs in society that need new helping tools with new good design. The universal design thinking has by this point already started. So by specifying the needs you can find a solution with a design that is acceptable for all, which is the purpose with thinking in terms of universal design.

Another important aspect when working towards a non-excluding thinking is how to approach the way of thinking together with the design team. To be able to grasp the field it’s important to have some common ground and understanding about the important aspects of universal design. The group needs to learn more about disability, design, usability and evaluations. By doing this you will get a broader knowledge base about different users capacity and bodily functions and how that can affect how they do things. So, knowledge is important! Have workshops to show difference in designed tools that are used by a person without an impairment and the same tool for a person with an impairment. Show signs of stigmatization, that design often has a more ugly look for a person with an impairment than for others. By showing how the world looks like and by evaluating design and comparing it will give a great understanding in why its important with universal design.

Another approach that would provide a greater insight towards a non-excluding way of thinking is by making different checklists when designing. A checklist will help you in the design process to evaluate each step of the way towards the finished design. In every step of the design process, the designer can use the checklist and look at these different factors. Is the design solution:

• Perceivable
• Operable
• Understandable
• Robust
• Usable for all

If this checklist is used in every step towards the end then the finished product will be designed in a way to fit more users. It will have a bigger range of users because each step of the design process have been taking into account when it comes to how it can be used by different users.

One last approach to start designing and thinking towards a non-excluding design is to actually look at what a good design solution can be. One solution can lie in simplicity. By designing a simple solution can be better for more users than making one more complicated product which many times only will benefit some users. This comes down again to the user. Think about the problems and the needs for every user, which then will evolve into a more universal design. Simplicity can lie in the fact that its a simple design but its adjustable, but adjustable for every user. Make the design so that every user can adjust and implement functions that suits them the best. This is a way of making design fit a larger range of users.

Design for elderly

To many people it is a big disparity of getting older. Some feel that it is hard to walk or get problem with their balance, some loose some of their sight and some loose some of their hearing. For those people it is important or even necessary to design their house or apartment in a way that facilitate them. I am going to mention things that can be done in a home for elderly to make the life easier for them.

When you are older you might have walking or balance problems. Because of that it would be great to avoid thresholds in the home so the person wont be able to stumble on them. It can be big consequences if an elderly falls on a threshold. If the person has that much walking problem that he or she even need an indoor walker the thresholds would be in the way. For the same reason it could be a good idea to skip carpets in the rooms, it is easy to stumble at them as well.

If you have walking problems it can be hard to walk in stairs. If there are stairs in the house it is very important to have a handrail to which the person can hold to and keep up the balance with. But better than stairs would be to have an elevator in the house, that will make it easier for the elderly. To avoid falling in stair the apartment or house can be furnish with different thinks so the person does not have to walk in the stair, for example a washing machine. It could even be good to have a balcony if the person wants some air but don’t want to walk in stairs.

While showering it can be very slippery. Because of that I think it is important to have a carpet in the shower or the bathtub that’s makes it hard for the person to slip. It can also be a good idea to have some kind of ledge in the shower so the person does not have to bend to get things that is standing on the floor. For some elderly it can also be very good to have a handrail in the shower and beside the toilet so they can hold to that if they loose the balance.

When walking around in the house or apartment it is important to have many thing to hold on to, like furniture or handrails if you loose your balance. For some elderly it is a very bad idea of climbing in the house and because of that it is very good to not have shelves to high. It is better to have lover shelves but more of them.

To avoid the problem of running to the telephone it can be good to have a portable phone that the elderly can bring to every room when walking around. It is also important to have light rooms with a lot of windows If the rooms are dark it can be hard to see if there are something laying on the floor or it is easier for the elderly to kick a table or a chair etc. It is also important that all the light swish is easy pushed.

Summarized, it is good to have open spaces and a lot of things to hold to. It can be dangerous to have things on the floor that the elderly can slip on and to facilitate walking in the home it is good having handrails in the home.

Design for Elderly

Designing a good home for elderly persons is not the easiest task in the book. The
reason for this is that you never know how an old person is going to age, allthough,
you can assume some things by making some generalizations, and that may or may not be
the best way to do it. In this post I’m going to assume a few things and try to
design a flat for the “typical old person”.

So, what happens when you are considered elderly and becomes even older? – A lot of
things, you lose flexibility, your eyesight gets worse, hearing is not what it was,
your bones becomes brittle, your memory fails you, you are weaker than you were and
the coordination might not be what it was. This is the general case and there are, of
course, a few exceptions, some persons might age better and some might develop
diseases far more disabling than the “normal” aging process.

Seniors seldom want to admit that they are growing old and want to live in their home
as long as possible, so the first step of converting their current flat to a more
senior-friendly flat. They seldom want to admit that they are growing old and might
need some aid in the every day so any radical change is not likely to be accepted.

Removing tresholds that are high and replacing them with a minimal treshold that
tripping on is unlikely is something that should be done. This will help later as
well if the senior will be using any walking aid. Another step that probably should
be taken somewhat early is removing the need to store stuff on high shelves or other
hard-to-reach places. Because if an old person fall from lets say a stool, or trips
on something it often result in a pretty serious injury. Falling injuries are one of
the most common injuries for Elderly people. So a lot of designing a suitable home
for the elderly is to avoid the falling injuries. Having some handlebars or similar
in the bathroom is a very good thing! Maybe a shower-stool as well! The idea with
handlebars or wall-fastenend things you can use as help is great.

Keeping the flat open and clean of small stuff is another thing that should be kept
in mind. Things in the way is potential dangers and will make it more different to
move indoors with a moving aid. Another thing that an open apartment will do is to
enable a fun little tool, the self moving vacuum cleaner!

Talking about aiding tools, there are a few that makes everyday life easier, these
are not only good for elderly people, but for all people! And to keep everyone in
mind is probably a good thing when designing EVERYTHING. All tough, tuning for
elderly people is kind of tuning for a lot of different disabilities. Also, the
designer should read the guidelines stated for designing houses, there are a great
set of guidelines that if followed, enables almost everyone.

So to sum things up, keep the design nice and tidy, avoid small and tricky things
(even locks might be swapped to electric), put extra aid close to problem areas. Keep
objects in good height(regarding both high places and low). Use technology in the
correct way(should be easy to use and USEFULL, meaning for example smart lights and not things like high-end computers used to find the next prime number).

A home for elderly

One of the most important things to think about when designing a home that will fit a person from a younger age to an older one is the possibility to adjust things over time, at least as much as possible. This aspect can be adapted to many different things and situation, for example lighting in an apartment. When younger, proper lighting is important but when getting older, proper lighting might actually be vital for a person to be able to see or perceive the surrounding. Having lamps and similar where the brightness is adjustable is a very simple first step to move towards a home that can be used in a good way, regardless of age. Providing adjustable solutions can be applied to other things as well, for example sounds that are common in a home. The sound of a doorbell is one thing that would benefit from being adjustable. Since a lot of modern doorbells are electronic, modifications to these should not be that hard to implement. Providing a doorbell where the volume can be changed would help a person greatly. When being younger a lower volume might be preferred, but with an increased age and possible hearing loss, the volume should be possible to raise easily in order to hear when someone is coming over. These are just two examples of what can be done, but in general I believe that a key issue to solve is to make as many things as possible adjustable in ways like these, to create a home that can fit a person during several stages in life.

Automatic lighting in some places, like for example bathrooms and closets, might also be a good idea. This is something that can be used with benefit by many, regardless of age. Lamp switches might be hard to use, so adding automatic lighting in places where proper light is believed to be needed might help. Also, replacing normal lamp switches with motion detectors might be a good idea. When getting older, a person’s grip strength might decrease enormously. Being able to move a hand in front of a detector might help a lot in a scenario like this. A solution like this might also be good when being younger, if a lamp switch is placed somewhere hard to reach a motion detector will be easier to use.

Another thing to think about when designing a home that is to be used by a person from earlier stages in life to later ones, is to avoid using stairs and steps as much as possible. A person that is getting older usually has a hard time getting up stairs, and risks are involved when using a stair since falling often leads to worse consequences for elderly people. Besides the risk of falling, stairs should also be avoided since a person getting older often might need help from a wheelchair or walker. These tools can not be used when climbing a stair. An optimal scenario is to have a flat that is in one level, but if several levels are needed a good idea is to instead try to use ramps or similar. An important part to think about though is to make sure that the ramps are really incorporated into the rest of the design in the apartment. Having a metallic ramp will probably make it feel more like a public building than an actual home. Since wheelchairs and walkers are common tools used by elderly people, another thing that is important to think about is how wide doorways, open spaces and rooms in general must be in order to get around easily with these tools.

The problems above describe a few physical limitations that occur with old age. Similar to these, other problems might also be that an elderly person will have a hard time reaching things that are placed high up. Climbing chairs or steps in order to reach these higher levels might not be a good idea either, since the same risks that are described when using stairs apply here as well. To address this problem, a good solution is once again make sure that things are adjustable. Using kitchen cabinets where the shelves are possible to pull down with a handle is an example of a solution that can aid both elderly people as well as anyone else who has a hard time reaching the top shelf.

Another physical limitation that can occur when getting older is that the grip strength greatly decreases. This must be taken into consideration when designing, for example, door handles and water faucets. Door knobs that must be turned in order to open a door are not optimal to use, handles that just needs be pushed down will be a much better solution. Also, making sure that water faucets are designed with handles that are to be pushed or lifted will be a lot easier to use instead of ones where knobs must be turned. In some cases solutions such as motion detectors, like the lamps mentioned above, might be beneficial instead of manual controls as well. This also applies to, for example, locks. Turning a small key in a lock is something that will be harder to do if the grip strength is weakened. Electronic locks with tags might be a good idea to use instead. Sometimes, these locks might also be automatic to make sure that a person will not forget to lock the door when leaving home. GPS could be used to see if a key, that hopefully is held by a person, has left the apartment without locking the door.

The last thing I think is important to think about is the options that exists for an elderly person living in an apartment to get outside. Everyone should have the option to go outside and move around outside with ease. If an apartment is placed on the ground floor, options to get outside should be provided with suitable ramps and appropriate ground materials should to ensure easy access to nature, even if wheelchairs or walkers are used. If the apartment is placed on the second floor or above, balconies is a nice first solution but also, elevators to get downstairs and good ground materials must be provided to guarantee that everyone can get outside with ease.

These are a few of the aspects that I find important to think about when designing a home that a person can live in regardless of age. I think it is important to focus on making the apartment or house usable by everyone, instead of designing a home that is adequate for elderly people. Therefore, in this assignment I have tried to suggest solutions that will benefit elderly people as well as disabled or younger people, and in more general terms, everyone.

Designing home for elderly

There are many people who prefer to remain at home as they age, often called ”aging in place”. This could require a few adjustment or renovation in the home to be able to live in the same place to a late age because there are not always support for elderly in ”ordinary” homes. While working at the home care service, I experienced that most of the houses or apartments I visited had some kind of temporary solution for the support or impairment the elderly needed. Something that could be a solution instead of having temporary solutions is to consider to universal design while bundling new houses or apartments. Considering to universal design is not about focusing on elderly or people with some kind of impairment, it’s abut creating an attractive, stylish space that everyone, regardless of size, age or ability can live in and visit. In a perfect world, every house should be designed consider to universal design but it’s of course impossible today, but it should definitely be a goal for the future.

While designing houses and apartments for elderly, I believe that one should have in mind not designing a home with some kind of hospital-like environment that is filled with grab bars. In my opinion, the design should be good and attractive but at the same time useful. It is important that the designed features provides independence. The home should feel comfortable, safe and accessible.

While designing a home for elderly people, there is some things one should consider:

Doors and buttons: 

One of the most important thing I find while designing a home for elderly is wide doorways and hallways. Persons that uses wheelchairs or walkers should not have a problem moving around in the home and enter all the rooms. There should also exist non-step entry.

Often, the switches in homes can be a bit to ”high” to be reachable for someone in a wheelchair for example. Elderly might find it hard to reach for the controls and switches and therefore the home should also have reachable controls and switches so anyone, a person in wheelchair should be able to reach them.

Floor: 

Having non-slip floors in the home is something that is important. The bathtubs and shower in the home should also have some kind of non-slip rug or floor (in the shower) so you don’t slip on the wet floors.

Windows: 

Today, many windows is hard to reach or have som kind of child-safe solution that could be complicated to open. The window in the in the home for elderly should not require much effort to open and close. I’ve seen windows that opens at the bottom that is easy to open, I think this is a good design for elderly people and reachable.

Well-lighted home: 

I believe that a well-lighted home is important because many elderly have some kind of vision problems. It’s important to make sure that rooms, doorway, kitchen and bathroom and hallway is well-lighted. It’s also good to have task lighted directions to specific surfaces or areas for example in the kitchen.

Space in the hallway:

One other requirements that the elderly people should have in the home space in the hallway so they can be able to put their supportive tool if they have any, for example a wheelchair, walker etc.

Entrence:

The entrance should be protected from weather like rain and snow so one don’t slip while walking outside the door.  The entrance should also have sensor lightning because it’s easy to forget to turn off the light outside.

Helping hand: 

Having some kind of memory impairment is something that is more common as person age and therefore I believe that while designing a home for elderly, the home should have a ”helping hand” (a monitor) in the hallway so before the person goes out it reminds having the wallet, keys and also the phone with you. The helping hand should also check that the oven is switched off and that all the windows is closed. This is something that actually is useful and would help many people to, especially those who have problem with the memory.

Kitchen: 

The kitchen should have adjustable shelves so one don’t need bend while cooking food and also while using a wheelchair, it’s good having adjustable shelves so the person reach. There could be more than one people living in the house, one that uses a wheelchair and one that don’t, and therefore I find adjustable shelves as a good solution. The kitchen counter should have open space underneath so the one can cook while seated.

Singel floor living: 

While designing a home for elderly, something that I find important is to have a singel floor living. Singel floor living means having all the rooms, kitchen and bathroom on the same floor. This makes it easier to navigate while having a wheelchair or walker. Stairs could also be more challenging as a person age.

Designing for Elderly in a Universal Design Context

When designing a flat in a home for elderly that can support an old person from an early stage to a late age, with possible impairments, a good start can be to define who the design is for. So who is an elderly person? An elderly person is someone who is more likely to have health issues than someone younger, but can be perfectly healthy. Above all an elderly person is human, just like anyone else and as different as anyone else. When designing a flat for an elderly it should not be designed to look like a home for someone old because that is making the generalization that all elderly are a certain way and want the same things.

The best way to design a flat for a resident that can have all sorts of preferences or needs is to give many options. To give many options it is good if the flat is easily adjustable to add certain support when needed. Easily adjustable can mean to design the flat with large enough spaces for some supportive tools or make, for example, cupboards movable for future needs. To admit one needs some support can be hard but one or family needs to be responsible and make that decision. Having support easily available to a flat, without requiring large changes, can ease making the decision to use it. Yearly, or more often, controls can be done to see if residents are in need of new support to keep them from putting up asking. An adjustable flat can help support the many stages of a resident’s stay and will not make someone live with unnecessary support that may have a stigmatizing effect. To live in a home that has the look of a home for an “old person”, perhaps with visible support, can not only feel unfitting for the resident but can also make them feel it portrays them wrongly with visitors.

Independence is something many would feel is essential in life. To enable independence in a flat for elderly there needs to be support for necessities like food, hygiene, cleaning and shopping. To support getting food the flat should be situated close to grocery stores and restaurants. For cleaning all spaces should be easy to reach, therefore adjustability in a flat can be handy with easy to move furniture. For people who cannot clean themselves there are, for example, robots that can vacuum and sweep the floor. To keep up good hygiene, washing areas should be easily accessible with space for sitting down and there should be space to put in railings for support. The flat should also be situated near other stores than grocery stores to enable shopping. However, today shopping can be done from home on a wonderful invention called the Internet.

Today internet might not be used by every elderly person but as other generations grow older internet is going to be more and more used amongst the elderly. Internet does not only create opportunity for shopping but also for entertainment, socializing and much more. High-speed internet connection should be a requirement in a flat for an elderly. Old does not mean slow and elders should not have to settle with a slow internet connection as it can be a great tool. In the near future fast internet connection will be expected at every home for the elderly.

Every person should feel secure in their own home which is an important requirement when designing a flat. As elderly run higher risks of health problems, alarms can be installed in every room to easily send distress signals. The alarms should preferably not be positioned too high as they might be needed when lying down. To add security when moving around in a flat, sharp edges should be avoided. Timers on ovens and stoves can add security as they can be forgotten to turn off.

No one should feel trapped in their own home. Easy access to a flat should be a requirement for a flat for elderly. The building should have a ramp at the entrance to support wheelchairs and an elevator to avoid having to use stairs. To not feel trapped the flat should have close access to public transport. The flat itself should be easy to get around in with wide areas and good coloring or lighting to lead the way.

When growing older, family and friends may not be around due to different reasons. To have social interactions, however, is still important. The building of the flat can have a lounge where residents may meet and keep each other company. If socializing in real life is not an option technology can be of much use. As mentioned previously, internet can be used for socializing. Via internet; video calls and chatting can be done with someone one knows or not. If computer usage is not a possibility there is other technology such as robots of different models, designed to give a social feeling.

Keys aspects to focus on when designing a flat for an elderly person, that should support the resident in different stages, is the importance of giving options and possibilities for adjustments. Not one elderly is completely the same, therefore there needs to be many options or possibilities for adjustments to cater to everyone. People change and grow new needs, thus a flat that can change along with the resident is optimal.

Designing a home for elderly people

When designing for elderly people there are a lot of different things to consider. Compared to a certain impairment where one almost only need to consider a few things, designing for elderly requires a bit more. There are a lot of things that can be affected when a person gets older so if the design are supposed to be general for all elderly people one needs to think of a lot of different aspects when designing. When a person gets older the sight, the mobility, the sensibility, the hearing, the strength and the memory are things that could get worse together with some diseases that are related to elderly.

When it comes to designing homes for elderly people I think it is important to make sure the home does not look like it is adapted to elderly. I do not think people want to live in a place that looks like it is only for elderly. The ultimate home would be a home that is adapted to everyone, not a certain group of people such as elderly or people with some kind of impairment. This is obviously hard to achieve because everyone require different kind of help depending on the impairment or disability, but it should be a goal when designing homes.

To make sure the home is adapted to elderly people there are a lot of things to consider since elderly is a large group of people who may suffer from various impairments. Because of that, it become pretty much the same as designing a home for everyone. A few things that is important to think of when designing a home are described below.

General: Elderly people may use a wheelchair, a walker or a cane to be able to move because of mobility issues. Therefore an apartment designed for elderly people must be roomy to make sure people get through everywhere and not get restricted because of the use of their tool. Stairs is one of the things that must be considered. Instead of stairs there could be lifts or ramps for example.

Another thing that is general for the whole apartment designed for elderly is that everything must be easy to reach and open. Door handles must be adapted so that they are easy to use even if people use a wheelchair or any other tool. It should not be heavy to open doors, elderly people often have less strength which needs to be considered.

Kitchen: In the kitchen it is important for kitchen appliances to be easy to understand by everyone. New technology can be hard to understand by elderly people. The kitchen appliances should have big and clear buttons and displays to make sure people with bad sight are able to use them properly. Some kitchen appliances such as microwaves beeps when done or for some kind of warning. Bad hearing can cause problems when using these appliances. One solution to this could be some indication that can be seen such as a blinking display. Another, probably better, solution for knowing when a microwave is done is to have a control of some kind. The control are then connected to the microwave and vibrate, beeps and blinks when the time is up. The user can put it in the pocket and are not limited to be in the kitchen to be able to see or hear when the microwave is done. This is applicable to other appliances as well, such as ovens for example. This is a design that can be used by everyone but especially for elderly people with bad hearing, sight and/or memory.

Bedroom: The bed should be adjustable in height so it is easy for everyone to get in to. There should be enough space in the room to be able to move around if people use any kind of tool. Wardrobes and other kind of storage need to be placed in the right height for everyone to reach. A solution to that could be some kind of electric shelves that can be controlled by a remote control.

Bathroom: Even if you are in a wheelchair you should be able to use the bathroom without any help. To make sure this is possible, it is important to design the bathroom in a way that makes a wheelchair user able to do so. There should be a shower instead of a bathtub since a bathtub requires a person to be able to go into it. The shower also needs to have enough of space. The sink and all kind of shelfs should be placed at a correct hight so that everyone can reach it.

This is just a few suggestions of things to think about when designing for elderly people. There are a lot more one can do to make the home as appropriate as possible for elderly. However, I think it is very important to try to make the home suitable for everyone and not just elderly.

A designed home for elderly people – In a Universal Design Context

When it comes to age, people seem to think differently about it in different cultures. In some cultures they say that the older you get the better life you have which leads to better life conditions. While in other cultures the perception of elderly people as individuals are people that need help and that are not so fit anymore. Many cultures also have a combination of these two thoughts. A common thing in every society is that people tend to have preconditions about life conditions for different ages. We tend to group people into age frames that we use for our pre judgements about them. Its common to hear people say; “Teenagers always do this…” or “Elderly people are like this..”. Is this right? Do we have the right to group people into age and then generalize a thought about all of them? Even though I think that we need to think about people as different from one another and that each individual are unique in themselves, we also need to group them according to age when it comes to design. I think that for design to be optimized in the best way, we need to look at our users and what their conditions are. This is why it is important to look at what conditions do, for example, elderly people have in certain situations. After the design has been made for a certain group, like elderly people, we can make design implementations that can fit each individual.

When designing a home for elderly people its important to understand the difference between people. One design can be very useful for one person and not useful for someone else. Therefore its important to specify the needs of the user who the design is for, the design should be need-driven. It’s also important to think that even though the person is older he or she should still have good looking and useful design. And by accepting ageing we can in many ways avoid stigmatization.

The definition of “Elderly” is more or less a non-homogenous group of individuals. Some of them can have impairments that they have had their whole life and some usually comes when they get older. This is because their bodies get older and changes in many ways. The four most common properties that an elderly person may suffer is:

• Cognitive problems (Dementia, stroke etc)
• Perceptual problems (Vision, hearing, smell)
• Physical problems (Muscle and skeleton weakness, paralysis, damaged joints)
• Medical conditions (Diabetes, diseases)

These properties are all important to think about when designing for elderly people. Many elderly don’t have the same conditions as they did when their were young. This needs to be taken into account in design, so that design is universal and so that everyone in every society can be included whether they are young or old, have an impairments or not.

The design of the home should support people with the four common properties. The design should therefore include these types of including design factors:

• Cognitive problems

Cognitive problems is very common for elderly people. Cognitive impairments and cognitive exhaustion is a very scary and big issue that for many people is hard to grasp. It is therefore crucial that the home is designed so that it supports these impairments.

• The home has to be logically designed with much open space. This will help the person who lives there to find their way around much more easily. Imagine living in a house where the design is more complicated so that some rooms aren’t connected to each other, this could then be an issue for a person with cognitive loss.
• Many elderly also have issues with memory loss. Therefore is could be an idea to have a small screen with light diode next to their bed that will display different things in the house. There could be one diode that is for the door to show if its closed or open, one to show if the oven and tv is shut off or is on and also if any light still is on. This could be shown by red and green lights. This could help people who have a hard time remembering what they have shut down etc.
• Many places in the house could also have timers. Like the oven for example could have a timer so that it will be turned off after two hours if there is no interaction with it.

• Perceptual problems

Perceptual problems are problems that in many cases are affecting many elderly. The loss of good sight, hearing and smell is very common.

• Things like door handles, oven buttons, tv buttons, remote control, telephone buttons, the house number should be bigger. This is because it would make it easier for the person to see them and then understanding what it is.
• Carpets could also be part of the floor in the house. This could help in the way that the person who lives there doesn’t need to be scared to trip on the carpet edge.
• Speakers for the tv should be closer to the couch to avoid the hearing issues when sitting far away from the tv.
• All the thresholds in the house, like from room to room, shower step etc could be designed with higher contrast color. This could help a person with low sight ability to see where and how to walk so they dont trip.

• Physical problems

Physical problems is also a very common part of ageing. The body is no longer the same as it was when they were 30 and it is many times frustrating when living in a house where the design isn’t fitted for an ageing body.

• There has to be a open plan in the house. This will help the person who lives there to move around and find their way around without problem.
• Doors should be wider to have more space both for people who have a hard time walking and therefore using rollators and also for people in wheelchairs.
• A house without steps is also important so that its always easy to walk around with minimum effort.
• The toilet seat, kitchen chairs etc should be higher so that the person doesn’t put so much effort on their legs when sitting down and standing up. A chair can also be placed into the shower so that the person can sit. Handles on the wall is also a good design to help the person when trying to stand up.

• Medical conditions

It is hard to make specific design solutions that can support elders medical conditions. This is because the body when it comes to medical conditions is very individual. There are though some design solutions that can be implemented into the house.

• On some walls in the house, near the floor there could be buttons that the person can press if they fall. The button would immediately contact an ambulance that would come to the house.
  • The person could also bracelets with the same function so that they have it closer to them.
• The telephone could have one button that also goes directly to the emergency central so that its easy access. This could help people who have bad sight or if they don’t feel so good and need a fast way to contact the emergency.

Listed above are some ideas for universal design for a home for an elderly person. Something to remember with this is that everyone is different and that impairments and getting older looks different for every person. Therefore its important to try to both design to avoid stigmatization so that its the same for all but also to design for the individual level.