Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

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Hashemi Fesharaki A S, Tabaeian S M. Enhancing the Quality of Elderly Care Centers to Improve Their Disabilities. MEJDS 2021; 11 :92-92
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-1491-en.html

Background & Objectives: A critical group in the society that requires support is the elderly. By the population growth in this group, careful preparation and planning should be considered in various aspects. One of these measures is paying attention to the architecture of buildings. The presence of the elderly at home and in society requires an initial response to their needs. In architecture, not only should the principles and standards for this group be explained, established, and observed, but also the spatial pattern specific to this population should be defined. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate measures to promote the quality of the elderly care centers to improve their disabilities.
Methods: The present qualitative study was performed by library studies and reviewing review articles in Persian and English, published from 1987 to the end of 2018. For this purpose, by searching the databases of MagIran, Science Direct, Irandoc, Iranmedex, Scopus, Design and Health, SID, ISI, using the following keywords: ”elderly, nursing homes, improving the quality of the elderly environment, and improving the disability of the elderly” all articles and relevant materials were extracted. First, the factors that can increase the elderly’s quality of life were examined. Then, these factors were introduced in the form of activities and service programs to increase the elderly’s quality of life in their care centers to eventually improve their disabilities.
Results: The current research findings indicated that for increasing the elderly’s quality of life, in the environment of their residential care centers, 3 main effective factors could be addressed, as follows: the functional component: it could be considered as sub–components, such as facilities for all elderly, elderly’s dynamics, personalization, care, and control. The aesthetic component: it includes avoiding isolation, mobility, and activity, the possibility of movement, usefulness, and design, concerning physical limitations and thermal sensitivity. The environmental component: it consists of clarity, joy, vitality, comfort, and morale, i.e., could be agreed upon. All these components are essential in the framework of architectural policies and strategies; a physical environment is developed to improve the elderly's disabilities. These strategies include designing collective spaces for the elderly to improve the sense of participation; space design to create conditions of belonging; designing booths for presenting and selling the handicrafts of the elderly to motivate them and increase their life expectancy; designing facilities for all elderly with any extent of ability; designing motion paths for mobility and activity; designing sports spaces to increase their health; designing the physical conditions of the elderly to promote security, and so on.
Conclusion: With the increase in the population of the elderly, their quality of life should also be considered. Therefore, paying attention to principles and standards for this population’s residence areas and architectural design strategies should be addressed.