| Summary: | 碩士 === 中原大學 === 建築研究所 === 95 === With the increasing numbers of the senile citizens due to the ever-advanced pace of development in modern technology and medical care as well as the transformation in the social and household structure, our country has turned a senile society. Under the transition of social structure, what has emerging as the issue of top priority will be the life quality and adequate living space of the aged people. When facing the degradation of both their mental and physical functions, these seniors long to dwell in an ideal place where they are familiar with. Consequently, rather than merely contenting the basic daily life demands of the aged, an ideal living environment for them must focus on three essential factors, namely safety, peace of mind, and stabilization.
Safety is the fundamental and most significant factor among those mentioned above. Therefore, the aim of design for the household barrier free environment is enabling the senior citizens to live independently at home, preventing accidents, alleviating the burdens of the caretakers, and creating a not only safe but also comfortable and convenient living environment which suits the aged most.
Furthermore, according to a survey, the staircase is a place where the senior people get injured more easily in the house. This thesis is based on a research of experiments, the intention of which is to look into the measuring data about the degradation of both their mental and physical functions of the aged when they are using the stairs. The dependent variables include the height when the aged lift their feet, their heart-beating frequency, their breath, and the time they walk on the stairs. Then again, this study analyzed the relationships between those dependent variables and the independent variable – the ages of the senior people. Moreover, by the approaches of interviews and observation, this research explores the relationships among the mental and physical status of the aged using the stairs and the environment of the staircases in order to realize the real staircase usage behavior of the seniors in the early and late senior age. The conclusion of this research will be illustrated as followed:
1. This research analyzed the moving abilities on the staircases of the aged in the early and late senior age by the “Chisquare test” and discussed the significance and differences of this test. As depicted in this experiment, it quite apparent that seniors in the early senior age have far less difficulties of using the stairs than those in the late senior age. Another fact is that because of the aging and physical degradation, imbalances of the steps, and the sluggishness of the movements, senior citizens in the late senior age have more difficulties when using stairs, which has turned an obstacle to them.
2. By interviewing the senior people, this research looked into the consumption of the strength, the extent of danger, safety and feeling of the aged on the stairs as well as the relationships among their mental and physical status and the environment of the staircases. To the elderly people in the early senior age, the scales of the staircases in terraced houses nowadays are still acceptable. In terms of the aged in the late senior age, however, they harbor a sense of insecure and worry about having an accident when they are using the stairs for anxiety and the retrogression of their physical functions.
|
|---|
