skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My focus for the elderly friendly room is the bedroom, the place where the elderly sleep. The room I have designed is not really perfected yet, since the proportions, unnecessary lines and miscellaneous issues are still present(for that, I will like to apologise for this mediocre submission of work).
There is a bed, as you can see, tucked at the corner of the room. Beside it, we have a sort of cuboid seat that is versatile in many ways; it can save as a cushion when the elderly get down from their bed, a sturdy support when the elderly wants to climb on it to take things from a greater height or even, like a bedside table, to put things like their spectacles there before they fall asleep.
There is a shelf on top, as you can see. It is placed high enough such that the elderly will have no chance, absolutely none, of getting their heads hit by the shelf by accident, if not on purpose. There is a camera-like sensor attached to it, but it is not open all the time. It is a rotating camera and it just takes a picture every hour. After that, it will be sent into the respective e-mails of the elderly's relatives, thus reducing the risk of sustaining injury in the room.
There is a cupboard and at the far end, we can see a door leading to the plain background, or the supposed living room. There are large knobs just in case for easy handling but it does not protrude so much; otherwise, the elderly will have bumped into it. The red part is like a support for the elderly, should they have any difficulties moving around the room.
There is also a small television set, assuming there is a larger one in the living room, and a cushion in front of it. It is purely for entertainment and the makeshift seat is comfortable. There is also an extendable backrest for the elderly to lean on, which explains why the cushion is double-layered.
The room is not drawn to scale, but by right, it is not that cramped so the elderly can move around with ease and no worries. There will be much more space, and somewhere behind the television, there will be a toilet, which can be found in every master bedroom. I believe that this house is ideal for the elderly as it is very safe and there is no hidden dangers.
I noticed that the elderly is often treated as nought by people or worse, being considered as 'useless' in the worse case scenario. Often, people do not regard them with the respect they deserve, but rather, with emptiness and often dislike. I know some people loathe senior citizens; I have heard some of them complain about them being dependent on others while not putting in any contributions to society. And therefore, I dare say, the elderly is often neglected by others. People do not give any attention to them when they are in need, and I am going to state some examples.
One, the senior citizens are not offered seats in public transports by egotistic people when they really require it. This scenario has happened a lot of times. The people usually pretend to be engaged in something on their own and pretend to be oblivious to the presence of the elderly. This behaviour is appalling; the government have taken further actions by reserving one or two seats for them, but it is certainly not enough. We need to understand and empathise with the elderly by putting ourselves in their perspective; we need to have the initiative that I believe, many Singaporeans lack.
Secondly, when people walk on pathways, they will sometimes find an elderly having difficulty walking. Instead of helping them, those people will resort to mumbling and grumbling under their breaths or complaining aloud, which I find appalling. Humans have feelings and the elderly are as human as we do; we have to understand people's thoughts and sentiments, otherwise we are no better than being called 'inhuman' by others.
There are many more examples, each which will make us grimace or cringe in disgust. Yes, our thinking has to change, otherwise the society will still stay the same. We can be a developed city, but if we lack the respect to others and ourselves, then we are pretty much useless. Therefore, this very issue has to be improved not by the government or the authorities, but starting with ourselves.
From my observations, I realise that most senior citizen will have a worsening eyesight as they continue to grow older. My grandparents, like many other elderly, have problems with their vision. They cannot read signs in public places due to their blurred vision. The situation will be further aggravated if it is a sign with shiny neon lights. It will cause a lot of inconveniences to the elderly.
I feel that the signs, including directories or some sort of a message to the public, should put words into diagrams so the elderly need not strain their eyes to read the words, so as to reduce any possible inconvenience to the elderly. There is no need to emphasize any point with shiny lights that will irritate the eye of the elderly, especially the barber shop near my grandmother's house, who uses an array of lights to attract customers. By refraining from using such signages, they can save electricity and at the same time, let the elderly know what is happening so they will feel that they fit in into the society.
In NorthPoint, I observed shining lights and small words in notices; I feel they should be improved so the senior citizens can comprehend the message to be conveyed quickly and properly. By making adjustments to such flaws, the public facilities and environment will no doubt be more elderly friendly.
I believe that most elderly have problems moving and shifting their bulk, especially when the place is not very convenient. What do I mean? It means that transportation is not very convenient for them, perhaps the nearest bus stop or pickup points are too far; or maybe, there are not accessible lifts or walkways specially built for them. Many elderly hope to have an environment that allows them to integrate with the wider community, their friends and even their own family members.
How can we make further improvements? This is what my grandmother have told me: "Our house is too close to the highway, so we cannot expect much. I wish we have more bus stops in the vicinity and lesser staircase...not to forget, lifts to every storey of the block." Of course, I have an experience of my own, too. I remembered that blocks of houses which are deemed "elderly friendly" are merely the same as conventional blocks of flats. Imagine that I almost fell while descending down the flight of stairs of my grandmother's block(the lifts are not accessible by all the storeys of the block, only chosen ones). If children and adults find the staircase treacherous, what do we expect from the elderly? Therefore, accessibility should come first, for the safety of the elderly is of utmost importance. The authorities and the government can make several changes to suit the elderly's needs, if necessary.
One of the elderly challenges will be the obstacles and barriers around them, in their living environment. Often, I see the elderly having difficulties navigating in places with treacherous barriers, especially those in car park. There are also open drains on the ground which they have to be wary about. They always require the help of a caregiver or another person to help them move across some places safely and without any worries. Their main issue, no doubt, is to sustain any unnecessary injury, which I believe no other elderly wants to have.
To have a better understanding, I will ask my grandmother when I visit her. She will complain: "The barriers are all coming out of nowhere. I rather stay at home for fear of getting hit or falling." I feel that the authorities should further improve on the design and make sure that the barriers are placed at the location with a definite purpose. Otherwise, all of them should be removed so that the elderly can get out of their houses and go out without any worries.
However, the houses are not as safe as it seems. There are also obstacles in the house; we have to take precautions because the elderly will stumble onto them unknowingly, partly due to their failing sight. The elderly-friendly designs can be applied in the houses, too. The partition, and stuff like that, can be improved so as to create a safer environment for the elderly to live in.
This is a report done by the Committee on Aging Issues(CAI). The link is http://bit.ly/aKVZZC. The four key recommendations of the report is better housings for senior citizens, better accessibility for senior citizens, better care for senior citizens and finally, better opportunities for senior citizens.
What does it mean? I will be elaborate further. It means that Singapore will become more elderly-friendly. There will have a range of housing options to meet the needs of senior citizens plus a better support care to be catered to them. Senior citizens will have better accessibility; the environment will be barrier-free and thus not affecting them from being injured. They can also have a better transport to places thanks to the user-friendly transportation system.
The elderly will also enjoy care benefits; they have access to healthcare and elderly care services. They are cost efficient and of course, much more effective. There will be more and better opportunities, too. They will have healthy and active lifestyle, no doubt. They can maintain fulfilling relationships with their family members. They can also have a lot of friends, and will be involved in activities, some of which even related to the community.
The CAI report is recommending to make Singapore more elderly-friendly by having accessible lifts, walkways and transport pick-up points to make their journey unhindered by any obstacles in the path. This will decrease the risk of any unnecessary harm that may be detrimental to the health of the elderly.
We can ensure that the quality of elderly care here is affordable by making observations of any senior citizens and analyzing information that may be regarding anything in their daily lives. The research can be useful in any improvements to be made. There is another alternative, though. It is to call some volunteers to take care and accompany some elderly. While having a conversation with the elderly, they can actually ask some basic questions to get some information for collation and then use them for the same purpose.
As an SST student, I can make some contributions to overcome these elderly challenges. I can actually help physically, by doing chores for them so as to ease their work load. This may sound easy but it is energy-consuming and time-consuming. I can also make a sort of schedule to help them because most senior citizens are lost on what important things they should do, apart from some of the daily routines. This will also ease their burden and allow them to be less stressed. I can also make an environment less dangerous, for example: making an area free of litter so they will not tumble over the debris or notifying people who can take action when seeing things that may injure an elderly, i.e a broken or fallen obstacle. This can make them unhindered by any worrying factors when stepping out of their houses, into the corridors and lift lobbies.
