How well do we take care of the
needs of our old people when designing for them? Here are some basic things to
consider before designing, constructing or setting up a building for an elderly person. 
(1) Design to respect their dignity - When designing a building or arranging an interior space for an elderly person, it must be done in such a way that their dignity are being respected because they deserve it, any appropriate design for an elderly person must be one that will fully enhance their self Image.
(2) Design to make them feel
adequately secured - optimum security must be put in place in any design for
elderly people since there is little they can do to defend themselves in time
of danger since their strength is diminishing.
(3) Design to make space
accessible - They're not young people that can always find their way around,
they are old people who need to locate spaces easily, any design for an elderly
person should not be ambiguous, it must be simple, flexible and accessible as
much as possible.
(4) Design that reflect
provisions for the psychology of the elderly - To fully design a functional
structure for the elderly, you must first understand how they behave,
communicate, interact and go about their daily activities, a design that works
for a youth in his early 30 won't work for an old person in late 70, so their
building design must be planned according to the studied psychology of the
elderly person you're designing for.
(5) Design to solve their old
age health issues e.g. - color perception - there are lot of health issues that
comes with growing old, this health issues include color perception challenge,
an elderly person at age 65 might have problem identifying objects easily
therefore, any design that will be functional for elderly people must address
these health challenges.
(6) Design that will create
suitable micro climate for them- It's important to design buildings that will
suitably adapt an elderly person into his environment, a design that will keep
them warm during winter and cool during
summer. A design that will bring them
closer to nature to enrich their lives. E.t.c.
(7) Design that revive the
spirit of their youthfulness - Any symbolic elements that will always bring
back their youthfulness should be incorporated into the design as this will
enhance happy living and decrease the rate at which they think about dangers of
getting old.
(8) Design to
solve their accommodation needs - Don't create more problems for them with your
designs, make your design flexible. Things like windows must be properly
positioned and the right height and width used, don't put a window that will
expose them to too much cold when they need to be kept warm, doors must be
designed to open along the sides that will not create inconvenience, lobby
should be wide enough to give space for those on wheelchair, the use of change
in height must be low compared to designs for other age groups, interior spaces
must enjoy quality indoor air in other to enhance their healthy living. E. T. C
(9) Design to
respect their culture - when it comes to having regards for culture, elderly
people performs better, they love to live culture, talk culture and teach
culture, a suitable design for an elderly person must be done to reflects his
or her cultural stand. Since culture is a way of life, any design that
complements their culture will be acceptable and easily livable by them.
(10) Design to
allow them to maintain their society integration - segregational design in most
cases is not advisable as this tends to make interaction between old and young
something strange. In my own opinion, a design that will be suitable for the
elderly people must be the one that allow easy interaction with the other age groups;
the young need the old while the old need the young.
I hope I have
been able to raise some important points that could help when designing
structures for elderly ones. Feel free to leave your comment and invite people
to this page. Thanks.
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