Monday, June 21, 2010

Elderly-Friendly Room

Bedroom
This is the floor plan of the bedroom. The bathroom cannot be seen in this picture. Everything is quite near to each other so the elderly can hold on to the objects for support or needs to travel only a short distance to reach an area.

Bed
The bed has supports in front so the elderly can hold on to them while getting on the bed. The front is brightly coloured so the elderly will not knock into it while walking past. There are barriers at the side so the elderly will not fall off the bed while sleeping, and it is at a strategic location so he/she is able to watch the television while sitting in bed.

Wardrobe
The clothes poles are on two different levels, so the elderly can see which clothes there are on which pole and is able to organise the clothes with more ease as well.

The wardrobe is next to the bed so at night, the elderly may leave their walking sticks (if any) leaning on the door of the wardrobe, and in the morning, they would only need to travel a short distance to the wardrobe. The knobs on the doors are brightly coloured so the elderly would not bang into it and they are easy to grip and usable as a support as well as a doorknob. The inside of the door is brightly coloured so it would catch the elderly's attention and he/she would not forget to close the door.

Reading Table
There is a reading table and chair next to the bed for the elderly to read newspapers. The elderly can read at night before sleeping, and therefore would only need to travel a short distance to the bed, and if he/she chooses to watch television, to the sofas.

Television and Sofas
The sofas and tables are coloured in contrasting colours so the elderly will not be confused, or will not knock into them. There is an extra sofa for family members or visitors. The sofas are next to the bathroom for quick access.

Bathroom
This is a top view of the shower cubicle.

The items in the bathroom are placed so that the ones which the elderly is most likely to use is nearer to the door.

The bathtub is least likely to be used, thus it is placed at the back of the bathroom. It is of a low level and thus the elderly can climb into it with ease, and may use the neighbouring shower cubicle for support.

The door of the shower cubicle has a towel rack which can also be used as a support. It is next to the toilet bowl and tap so the elderly can hold on to it to get to them. It is coloured differently in contrast to the other components in the bathroom so the elderly would not knock into it.

The toilet bowl and tap are next to each other and also next to the door so the elderly can access it quickly. It is of suitable height for the elderly and the tap can be used as a support for the elderly to lower him/herself onto the toilet bowl.

This is the door of the bathroom. It is coloured differently compared to the bedroom door, so that the elderly would not be confused on which door to use.

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