A Study of the Residents' Use and Occupancy-Behavior in the Activity Areas of the Senior Nursing Facilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the residents' use and occupancy-behavior in the activity areas of the senior nursing facilities, and to provide basic information to establish the appropriate physical elements for planning the activity areas. For the study, the observations in five facilities were conducted for one day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m by four researchers. The results of the study are summarized as follows: First, most of the using behaviors in the activity areas were the doing nothing or sleeping. The meals and program services were provided in only one activity area of the floor and it showed that the unit care system was perfunctorily conducted at those facilities. In the representative activity area, its openness was the main physical element influencing the spatial using frequency, while the accessibility and the openness in the sub-activity area were most important. The seating arrangements having comers were helpful for residents' interactions. Second, while facility programs and meals were provided in the specific activity area, there was no residents' occupancy in other activity areas at the same time. There were interactions including residents' conversations and watching/observations in non-designated activity areas such as the nursing stations and near corridors. But the residents' interactions and self-regulations were blocked by absence of territoriality, monotonous spatial compositions and furniture arrangements, insecurity of residents' privacy, wide or narrow areas, and isolated spatial type. Based on the results at the above, basic guidelines for planning the activity areas of senior nursing facilities can be proposed as follows: First, the isolated type and the sight interception should be avoided in representative activity areas. It should be partitioned with couple of areas through the appropriate furniture arrangements, and be prepared semi-private spaces in non-designated areas such as nursing station for the interactions among the residents and the staff. Second, in activity areas for small group, the isolated type is not also good for the residents' accessibility. The residents' privacy should be confirmed through the various spatial compositions, and enough areas need to be sure for the diverse furniture arrangements.

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