Abstract
This research tried identifying the current status of Gyongrodangs to find solutions to the problems of the oldest old through revitalization of the existing senior centers. With 31 national and public Gyungrodangs in Seocho-gu, Seoul as research subjects, the research contents include a survey of the facilities including main exit doors, living rooms and lounges, kitchens, and rest rooms in the Gyungrodangs by the checklist, and as the research tool a laser finder, measuring tapes, and cameras were used. The checklist was used as the research method to investigate main exit doors, living rooms and lounges, kitchens, and rest rooms. Based on the research results, the following conclusions are presented. The safety-related items of the public Gyungrodang facilities were reaching a critical level. They need to equip emergency exit routes, install exit lights and alarm bells, and teach how to use them. After that, the issue of rest room would be raised; the oldest old had difficulty in using the rest room with no consideration of universal design(UD), so installation of grab bars is needed around toilets, washstands, and urinals. Besides them, although absence of the western style furniture without consideration of users' ages caused inconvenience of using, there are no solutions due to the limited space. Unnecessary equipment such as treadmills which only occupy spaces without users should be thrown away and replaced with the furniture people would use like tables with supplement of furnitures to lie down and rest. Overall, the current Gyongrodang Facilities lack systems and need standardized management, in which the checklist this researcher developed and used in evaluating the present conditions could be recommended. It is expected that the evaluation system of senior centers would be arranged through this checklist, so that systematic service supply could be possible in the better facility environment.
