Designing for the Elderly in a Universal Design Context

Discussed here are methods of how a flat (or apartment) can be designed in order to accommodate an old person from an early stage to a late age (allowing for possible impairments).

Home design considerations for the elderly are generally specialist for that age group. Once an individual enters old-age it is commonplace that their home will require both an extensive and expensive refit for the owner to adapt to the weakening state of their body. Failing that, the other option is that they move to an apartment with the correct facilities (retirement community).

There are a number of factors to consider for the development of the body of an aging human being. The suggestions are split, room-by-room, into the main factors influencing the design:

---

Mobility and strength

• Widespread
  • Wide doors
    • Width to allow access for conventional wheelchairs to enter.
    • Also allows access for individuals that can be classed as extremely obese.
  • Doors not carrying huge weight
    • Heavy doors may be harder to open at an older age, due to the physical body weakening.
  • No steps
    • Anyone is able to enter the apartment, no matter what possible impairment.
    • A level floor design makes every part of the apartment accessible.
  • Open plan
    • where it does not invade on privacy, making less obstacles to go through increases accessibility.

• Entrance
  • Lift access to door of apartment for buildings more than one storey
    • As mobility decreases during aging, taking flights of stairs becomes increasingly difficult. If an individual weakens to the point of not being able to pick up their feet appropriately, then a lift will come in to greatly assist being able to enter and leave the apartment; similarly, should a person develop an impairment restricting use of their legs and a wheelchair is needed.
  • Sensor-activated entrance locks
    • For persons with diseases such as ALS or Parkinson’s, a sensor activated lock will save having to align a key into a small slot without total control of their arm movements.

• Bedroom
  • Bedside table
    • Offers support for getting in and out of bed.
  • Storage and managing space
    • Not overcrowding the space within the room; enough room given to move around (consideration for walking frames and wheelchairs).
    • Closet storage being at mid-level, with easy pull-down rails to store items higher but to access at the same level.

• Bathroom
  • Shower
    • A shower should be considered over installing a bath, as it is step-in step-out with no lifting of body weight required.
    • Basket for wash items hung at mid-height on the shower to avoid stretching to the floor and shifting balance.

• Kitchen
  • Storage
    • Not overcrowding the space within the room; enough room given to move around (consideration for walking frames and wheelchairs).
    • Cupboard storage being at mid-level, with easy pull-down rails to store items higher but to access at the same level.
  • Appliances
    • Placing voids below the work surface instead of using it all for storage allows access for people in wheelchairs to cook and use the sink, other appliances situated on the work surface, e.g. toaster, kettle, coffee machine.
    • Switch for cooker hood extraction fan at mid-level.
    • Waste disposal unit. Less carrying out the trash, less heavy lifting and trip hazards.

• Lounge
  • Furniture
    • Not overcrowding the space within the room; enough room given to move around (consideration for walking frames and wheelchairs).
    • Placing furniture within proximity to grab on to, to reduce risk of a dangerous fall at an elderly age.
  • Appliances
    • No trailing wires. No trip hazards.

---

Perception

• Widespread
  • Large high-contrast door handles with locks at mid-height
    • Larger door handles at high contrast compared to the the finish of the door make the object clearly visible assists for reduced vision, a common impairment developed at old age.

• Entrance
  • Making apartment numbers more visible
    • Larger, high-contrast number signs to the apartment can assist visibility.
    • Braille signs accompanying the number sign.
  • Sensor-activated entrance locks
    • No issues with finding keys.
    • No issues with aligning the key into a small slot.
  • Large prickled entrance mat
    • If house customs are that shoes are to be taken off before the rest of the house is accessed, having a distinct entrance zone which gives sensory feedback is the most indicative of separating these areas.
• Bedroom
  • Contrast furniture with floor
    • Using a high difference in color contrast from the floor surface presents objects more readily in the room. This can be especially useful to people with yellowing vision, cataracts, glaucoma.

• Bathroom
  • High contrast toilet seat
    • Using a high contrast toilet seat from the rest of the toilet and floor surface makes finding the toilet seat a great deal easier even with deteriorating eyesight.
  • High contrast shower step
    • Using a high contrast step from the rest of the shower and floor surface reduces the amount of falls it can produce substantially by becoming more visible.
  • LEDs with a temperature sensor in the wash basin tap changing the color of the water whether it be hot or cold. Could avoid scalding if the person has nerve damage.

• Kitchen
  • High contrast sideboard
    • Using contrasting appliances and kitchen utensils to be easy seen when placed upon work board.
    • Could be made digital, creating augmented border around items.
  • Different grips
    • By using different textures on utensil grips, it is easier to recognize whether the person has indeed picked up the correct utensil.
  • Backlit oven
    • Clearly see how the state of the food being cooked.
  • Transparent toaster
    • Make sure the toast isn’t burnt.
  • Kitchen sink
    • LEDs with a temperature sensor in the tap changing the perceived color of the water.

• Lounge
  • Speakers placed near the seating
    • With gradual hearing loss there is a tendency for the elderly to have the television or radio on excessively loud so they can hear what is on. Speakers placed near the seating reduce the noise level requirement for the seated to hear.

---

Cognition

• Widespread
  • Recognizable objects
    • Objects that are hidden or are disguised as part of something else can create confusion upon memory loss. It is better to keep something simple and recognizable.

• Entrance
  • Self-locking door
    • Door is locked from the outside, but can be opened from the inside.
    • Alarm if the door is left open for a long amount of time. Useful with memory loss.
  • Video intercom
    • Shows who is outside the door on the buzzer being pressed.
    • Safety conscious as the elderly are more at risk of fraud and doorstep burglary.

• Bedroom
  • Window blinds on a timer
    • Using window blinds on a timer can help against confusion of the current time, particularly useful in parts of the world with midnight sun.
    • Helps maintain healthy daily rhythm.

• Bathroom
  • Self-flushing toilet
    • Flushes on the user getting up. Keeps toilet hygienic if the user forgets to flush.
  • Water-level sensing bath and wash basin
    • If a bath or wash basin is closing to be over the limits of its capacity, the water stops. The person could be preoccupied with something else or simply have forgotten.
  • Electrical sockets do not provide power if water is being used or can be measured to be in use from the basin/bath
    • This is safety conscious planning and will stop disaster from happening if there is some cognitive lapse disassociating the relationship of electricity and water.

• Kitchen
  • Oven turns off after an hour of non-interaction
    • Light turns off in cooker. Alarm indicates cooker has gone off.
    • This is to avoid fires by slip of memory or other cognitive issues.
  • Water-level sensing sink
    • If the sink is closing to be over the limits of its capacity, the water stops. Saves flooding the kitchen if the resident moves on to focus on other things and forgets about it.

• Lounge
  • Reducing the amount of remote controls.
    • Less remotes, less things to learn and remember.
  • Doorbell notification on the television
    • If the doorbell rings the TV indicates someone is at the door. It could even display the video intercom feed.
    • Tries to indicate the experience of watching the TV show as separate from something that needs to be dealt with in the real world, i.e. “the door bell sound is not part of the television programming”.

---

Listed here has been an attempt to introduce universal design of an apartment, which is supportive  to the resident throughout aging and developing potential impairments.

As a person ages it is common to deny the weakening state of the body; a home with the features described here would provide the confidence to show that the person’s life as they know it is still accessible and does not necessarily need to have drastic changes to adapt to their aged or impaired state.

The suggestions and reasonings put forward have been thought-out to give as little stigmatization as possible whilst providing support in areas of difficulty found in a standard flat built today; all of the ideas were considered with an aesthetic design basis in mind. There is ample room to improve apartment facilities without making the residence look institutional, but instead making them perfectly modern and conventional.

---

Recommended reading:

• http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/03/health/bracing-for-the-falls-of-an-aging-nation.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/science/a-tiny-stumble-a-life-upended.html