Design for the Elderly： Housing and Re-arrangements-- Case Studies in Istanbul

As a consequence of developing technology, various medical developments and environmental factors, the population of elderly people has been rising. Future predictions show a rising trend for designing for the elderly and. In order for seniors to be able to appear in community life, to be self-sufficient and live their lives independently, supportive environments are required. Being able to sustain seniors＇ lives has to be seen as a civic right and architectural design should be considered as a tool to get these rights. As linked to everyday living, homes should be a starting point to get these rights. Being in the core of everyday activities, the spaces in dwellings should meet life-span design criteria. Fundamental principles lying under the aspects of design, dimensions, details, colors and symbols of supportive environments should not be affected from generation gap and senium and should rather aim at this user group. These fundamentals can briefly be listed as, change as less as possible, design for self-sufficiency, communication and socialization. In the paper, the focus is on these fundamental design principles for residential spaces, together with the research of reflections of factors, affecting health, security and mobility deriving from mobility disabilities, perception and memory weakening, specifically to bathroom design.

Integrating Universal Design Standards and Building Information Modeling at the Conceptual Design Stage of Buildings

A projection of the Canadian population shows that in 2024 one in five Canadians will be over 65 years old. This shift forces designers to consider the entire lifetime of occupants during the design of new buildings. Universal Design (UD), which is a design that accommodates all people to the greatest extent possible and aging in place design that is deeply rooted in the principles of UD, aim to house people irrespective of their age, ability, and chronic health conditions. Building Information Modeling (BIM) significantly helps advance the development of the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry in a more collaborative and automated way. Integrating BIM and UD allows designers to incorporate UD standards easily and efficiently at the conceptual design stage of buildings by using the functionalities and capabilities of BIM tools. Therefore, this study presents the development of an automated computer model to facilitate the adoption of UD standards and processes. The novelty highlighted in this model resides in the creation of an automated method that employs a newly created plug-in and databases to assist designers to incorporate UD standards at the conceptual stage in a timely and cost-effective manner. Furthermore, the study introduces the methodology consisting of collecting, categorizing, and storing data from various universal design and accessible design guidelines in the developed databases and developing new plug-ins in BIM tool to link the developed databases in order to automate the process of retrieving necessary information and components to help designers and owners select optimal design alternatives based on their predefined criteria.

Unequal aging in Nigeria: evidence on pre-COVID 19

Background:The study is focused on assessing predictors of later life inequality in Nigeria with specificity to the gaps in dimension and distribution.Methods:The study employed linear mixed multi-level regression analysis to assess predictors of aged inequalities status nested between geo-political zones and households.The study utilized the general household Survey-Panel(2018-2019)dataset(n=5527 persons aged≤60).Results:Evidence from the cross-sectional study revealed that aging inequalities are prevalent and persist between geo-political zones(γ00=1.374;p<0.001)and among households(γ00=1.266;p≤0.001).Demographic,social,and economic factors were strong determinants of inequality in the country.Conclusion:These results show that inequality among older adults in place and space is prevalent.Furthermore,these dire statistics of unequal inequalities at a later age are a significant problem in Nigeria.Therefore,an in-depth evaluation of the determined risk factors related to unequal aging and actions for its prevention are warranted.

Contemporary Designs for Long-Term Care (LTC) Facilities

In addition to experiencing shortage in LTC workforce, some existing facilities are unable to provide quality service, since they were designed and built decades ago. Thus, the renovation of outdated LTC facilities is currently an unavoidable issue. In this paper, some contemporary practices are presented related to renovating old LTC facilities to improve the quality of service. The most important concept is the person-centered design. Some other elements include the importance of natural lighting for residents, proper practices of flooring and picking doors, some details in home-like design, new guidelines for resident rooms’ design, and other miscellaneous issues. Furthermore, the latest Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance protocols are reviewed, and some crucial elements are discussed to ensure the renovations will make the facilities compliant with the current standards.

Challenges in the provision of community aged care in China

Objective:Population ageing in China is a significant challenge for the Chinese government,the society and Chinese people.The dramatic process of population ageing together with social and economic diversity in China has created issues in the availability,equality and sustainability of social and financial support for older people.The aims of this review are to identify the social and economic challenges to the traditional caregiving system in China,and to examine possible solutions to improve the care of older people in China using the framework of ageing in place.Methods:Electronic literature searches were conducted in May and June 2013 using PubMed,CNKI,and MEDLINE.Statistical data and reports were retrieved from the United Nations,the World Health Organisation,the World Bank and National Bureau of Statistics of China.Government policy documents were found through government websites and formal publications.Results:Family-centred care for older people in China is recognised as a cultural tradition in the Chinese community.However,driven by large-scale social,political and economic changes,this model of caring for older people has dynamically changed over the last 50 years.Traditionally the family has been the most important source of social support for older people followed by neighbour support and support from friends.Today family obligations of caring are still centred in a cultural and practical context;however,support from family and children has weakened incrementally.Community-based aged services are absent in most areas,while older people and their families have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for non-residential services.There is a severe shortage of aged care or nursing home resources in China and those that exist are of low quality and expensive.The staff who work in these facilities rarely have any formal training in aged care.In addition,a market approach to the funding of residential aged care has the potential to create a moral hazard due to the poor regulatory control of aged care in China.While the building of residential aged care homes is seen as the solution to the care of older people in China,older people prefer to age in their own homes and expect the restoration of the family care tradition as well as more government support for them to“age in place”.This approach has the potential to be more cost effective than expensive aged care facilities.Conclusion:Given older people’s preferences,ageing in place,with the provision of community services and family support,potentially provides a fair and financially viable approach to promote healthy ageing and supportive care in China.Further studies are required to identify 1)how ageing in place can be supported by a national strategy,2)the financial arrangements required to fund such an approach,and 3)how to train high quality community-based professionals in both rural and urban areas to support the care of older people.