Comfort
Physical comfort will help promote good health in those utilizing a facility. For the elderly, this is an especially important objective.
Here are some suggestions on how to achieve a comfortable environment: - Provide access to daylight and fresh air. This can help keep a person's normal circadian rhythm functioning properly, improving overall health.
- Maintain a relative humidity of 30-70% at 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit to accommodate a decrease in thermal range tolerance that comes with age. Air conditioning must be set with caution, because it impedes adaptation to temperatures outside the regulated environment.
- The elderly tend to display a low tolerance for unusual space, shapes, or dimensions. Extensive use of curved surfaces can also confuse a blind person.
- People generally prefer to sit where they can observe a room's entrance and view others, not where they can be directly observed. It is also not comfortable to sit facing others as they come out of a bathroom.
- The farthest seat in a TV lounge should not exceed a distance 12 times the color picture tube height, and the top of the TV screen should be below seated eye level.
- Have one control with a few easy buttons for programming any piece of equipment. Elderly people often show a lengthened response time to novel or complex mechanical controls.
- Controls on devices should be the large, push-button type.
- Telephones and doorbells should have enhanced high- and low-frequency tones for older ears. Emotional comfort is also a big consideration for the elderly, who can feel confused or lonely. Allowing older people to maintain continuity with the past can help to make them comfortable. Here are some ideas:
- Give people access to familiar and interesting things. In a residential facility, having private bedrooms gives residents a space to "own," which they can personalize.
- Some semi-private rooms should also be available, for residents wishing to have a roommate.
- Make the facility as home-like as possible. Keep spaces small, as large spaces seem institutional. Graphics and color can both help to achieve this effect. In a residential facility, keep dining and activity areas close to the apartments by clustering them.
- Use home-like furnishings, such as vinyl flooring that looks like oak hardwood floor or custom wardrobes and matching nightstands in a resident's room.
- Provide objects to increase stimulation and add enjoyment such as birds, a fish tank, or flowers.
- Provide time and space for both privacy and social interaction. People need both at different times.
- Assistive devices should blend in with the environment as much as possible. Many elderly people will not use unattractive equipment if they feel it stigmatizes them as "disabled" or "old."
For topics related to comfort, refer to the sections on colors, lighting, noise control, safety and mobility.
Further reading on the topic of comfort can be found in:Facility Design With the Elderly in Mind. Author: Constantine L. Tsomides. Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, vol. 13 (2), 1990. pp. 59-67.Long-Term Care Design: What You Need to Know About Designing Life-Enhancing Environments. Authors: Maurice Childs, Thomas H. Grape, Anne Webb-Johnson, and Alfred Wojciechowski. Journal of Healthcare Design, vol. 9, 1997. pp. 121-124.
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