Munch Eighteen - (Week 7) Site Study

This time, we are going to look deeper on this matter - senior citizens' safety, but focusing only those living in Singapore.

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With the continued decline in fertility and the improvement in health of Singaporeans, Singapore faces a greying population. 

Based on a survey done by the government in 2005, almost 9 in 10 (87.0%) senior citizens aged 55 and above lived in public flats. 34.6% resided in 1- to 3-room public flats and while 52.5% lived in 4-room or larger public flats. 

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It is also said that among senior citizens aged 55 and above, only 35.8% reported a clean bill of health. The most commonly reported medical ailments were high blood pressure (39.6%), bone or joint problems (23.6%), diabetes (17.0%) and sight problems (13.6%). In general, the proportion of senior citizens suffering from each common medical ailment increased with age. 

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Just a little over 90% of the senior citizens above 55 years were physically independent. However, the proportion of senior citizens who were fully ambulant and physically independent decreased with age.

Looking at the design of an HDB flat I have been staying at, which I believe has a similar design to other HDB flats, I am pretty sure that it is not made in senior citizen favour, for example how the kitchen cabinet being too high.

We also got the same information when we did interviews to the senior citizens in Singapore.

Since most of them are living in flats, we decided to design the space of a flat with the objects that will help the senior citizens in their daily life.

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Reference
http://app.msf.gov.sg/Portals/0/Summary/research/NSSC-2005.pdf

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Munch Seventeen - (Week 6) Research Method

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To proceed with our research, we need to find even more information, not only from literatures. So we decided to conduct an interviews with the senior citizens themselves so we can find out what they feel, what they need, and what they want. So, here are some questions we are going to ask the senior citizens we found:

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For the basic information, we are going to ask their age, the type of the house - since it influence a lot in what they needs, how many people they are living with, their medical conditions, and what is they would rate they house.

Which room in your house you feel most safe in?
Which room in your house you feel most unsafe in? What makes you feel unsafe?
Is there an external helper in your house? How is she/he?
What do you think the most concern of your safety in your house?
Have you had any accident in your house? What happened? Why?
Do you know anyone who have had accident in their house? Describe the accident.
Have you ever considered living in an old folks home? Why?
Do you have any suggestion in improving the houses to make it more suitable you?

We also ask them about their own opinion on how to improve their houses, since they are the one who experience the problem first hand, then I bet they know better or what to do.

Most of the people I interviewed are around 65 years old and all of them live in an hdb flat. Most of them feel the safest in their bedroom, and feel least in the kitchen and bathroom. Most of them also employ an external helper and they are quite satisfied with him or her. Some had have accident at home. They fell due to slippery floor. Most never consider living in old folks home since they feel the safest at home.

We also did surveys for the household members. Here are the questions.

 

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Munch Sixteen - (Week 5) Design Ideas

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After discussing for weeks and crank open our brains, we came up with some ideas.

So basically what we are doing is that we will make a model of a house. In the house, we will include the objects we designed that will help the senior citizens in living in their house.

The house would have railings in every room so it is easier for the senior citizens to walk around. The kitchenette will all be made easier and safer for them to use. We came out with and idea of a mirror with a wiper attached to it in the bathroom so each time it is foggy, they can easily wipe it away. We also would provide a bed design that is easy and safe for them to use.

I also came up with an idea of making a roomba that can move small things on the ground that is not supposed to be there. How do they know this? 

So when it is first used, the roomba would go around the house to scan the objects that is already there and it would remember the placements. So each time there is something on the ground when it is not supposed to be, the roomba would push the thing to somewhere safe. Maybe we could include a place for the roomba to place the things there so they do not get lost.

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For more details on our designs, do read our research report on Safety for Old People in House.

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