Apartment Bathroom Design to Prevent Fall for Independence of the Elderly

It is very important for the elderly to maintain their independence and to live safe and comfortable daily lives in order to lead an independent life. The bathroom in the house has the greatest number of fall accidents and has a great influence on the independence of the elderly. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a bathroom design method that improves the independence of the elderly whose physical function is deteriorated through preventing falls. In this study, first of all, we investigated the causes of falling in bathrooms based on the previous studies, and identified the intelligent services that can prevent falls and selected them according to individual needs. Secondly, we investigated the bathroom size of the apartment among the various housing type, analyzed the type of the bathroom, and developed a standard type of the bathroom. Thirdly, we analyzed the design guidelines for the elderly residents in Korea and proposed improvement directions. We also divided the intelligent sanitary appliances and fall-prevention products and proposed the installation method and directions. Therefore, the comprehensive bathroom design standards and proposals proposed in this study will be the basis of bathroom design to prevent falls and improve independence of the elderly, and it will be easy to understand and help the designer in designing. Finally, this study is meaningful in that it provides independence of the elderly through fall prevention and increases the easiness of hygiene action and suggests direction to maintain self-sustaining life of the elderly.

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