Elderly-Friendly Room

For my elderly -friendly room, the walls are painted in blue. This is because blue seems to give people a sense of tranquility and hence I think the elderly will like this colour.

When the elderly enters this room from outside, they can put their keys or other stuff on the 3 shelves in red. I placed those 3 shelves near the door as elderly are forgetful and it will be convenient for them if they are able to put their things when they enter the house. So, when they are going out, they will be able to remember where did they put the items.

There is a shoe cabinet by the entrance as well.

The TV in this living room does not occupy much space and this provides more space for the elder to move about the room.  There are 2 acoustics by the TV and this is to help the elderly to hear the sound of the TV shows. The table in front of the sofa is round and so it will prevent the elderly from knocking into any sharp edges of the furniture in the house. There is a drinking cooler by the sofa, so the elderly will get the water he needs when he comes into the house or when he watches TV. This will be much to their convenience as they do not have to move about so much.

There is a window on the wall and it is for air circulation.

Lai Ziying 

S101

Elderly Challenge-Observation 4

Elderly people need exercise to keep themselves fit and healthy. You may think that it will be exhausting for the elderly to do a run or even jog in the park. I have observed that at most void decks, there are  equipments for the elderly to exercise on.

I went to try these equipments and I realised that the equipments are much lighter to suit the elderly's needs. Also, clear introductions of using the equipments are written. Although the texts are in both English and Chinese, however, due to the vision problems that most elderly have, I think it will be more convenient for the elderly to understand the explanation if we reduce the number of words and replace them with images that are easy to understand.


Other than the equipments installed for exercises, there are benches and round tables at the void decks too. I think this is a pretty good idea because elderly can go down to the void deck and play chess or to chit-chat together. Also, the round tables and chairs will be safer for them rather than the rectangular type.


For those elderly who prefer to socialise, there are even singing clubs for them to join and participate in the activities at their leisure time! We can encourage our grandparents to take part in those activities that suit them and to make them feel alive!

Lai Ziying
S101

Elderly Challenge-Observation 3

As the elderly are vision-impaired, they will meet difficulties when they are in MRT stations, shopping malls and even when they are surfing the internet at home.




I have encountered elderly people who have difficulties reading the signs when they are in the MRT stations and shopping malls. I think one of the reasons is that the words are not vivid or clear enough for them to read and another crucial reason is that most of the elderly do not know English well.


In order to resolve the problem, colours and fonts of the words, location of placing the sign boards and the languages provided should be taken note of.




Colours


The colours should not be low contrasting colours. For instance, the effect of black on purple is low contrasting and this will enhance the difficulty for the elderly to read the signs. Conversely, red on white or black on white is the highest contrast.


Also, we should not put two low contrast colours adjacent to each other. For instance, a red stripe placed beside a green strip is too much of a blur for the eyes and this will impact the effect of vision of anything that is placed in front of these colours.


Fonts
There are many types of fonts and some fonts such as sans serif fonts or monospace fonts will be clearer for the elderly to see. Using serif (e.g. Times New Roman) will be better for reading too.


Languages


As I have mentioned above, Chinese should be included in those important signs at public places. 




LOCATIONS 
Most sign boards in public places will usually be hung from the top and people are aware of this. In fact, images will help the elderly to understand the sign better too. In addition, in most public places such as shopping malls, the signs are lighted up and which will help to get the elderly's attention.




Lai Ziying
S101

Elderly Challenge - Observation 2

Elderly Challenges in Shopping Malls

We want the elderly people to enjoy life and one of their ways to enrich their lives is to go to public places, such as shopping malls, to  interact with with people and enjoy themselves. However, there are problems which the elderly meet when they are in shopping malls.

Other than vision-impared, elderly people will have problems in movements as well. Hence, escalators in shopping malls  are extremely important and they play a big role. Although there are escalators to transport people from one level to another, I find that the normal kind of escalator we encounter in every day's life are not convenient enough for the elderly.

First, let me give my definition of the "normal kind of escalators that we encounter everyday". The escalators that we usually see have steps (like stair-case) and when people have to step out the escalator, they need to react fast enough in order to step out of the escalator safely.

So here are some of the problems which I observed:

1st: Elderly people may not be able to react fast enough which means that the normal kind of escalators are not safe enough for them.

2nd: What elderly people need is not just the escalators which can transport them from one level to another, but perhaps, the kind of escalators found in Changi Airport.

To resolve the first problem, there are two types of escalators that we can consider about:

1. The escalator below can be found in the Beijing airport which was built in 2005 for the Olympics Games:

As we can see, there is more flat space provided for people to prepare to step out of the escalator and this can ensure the safety of the elderly who are slow in mobility.

2. The second type of escalator shown below can transport people from one level to another level and meanwhile it does not have the steps. This kind of escalators can be very convenient for elderly and those who are on wheelchairs. This type of escalators can be convenient for those who are carrying trolleys or prams too.

What I thought of to resolve the second problem is to have this kind of escalator installed in the shopping mall. However, compared with the first resolution, I think the previous one is more practical and efficient.

The images of some of the escalators are taken from: 

http://www.gtselevator.com/images/yuruyenMerdivenYolRes.jpg

http://www.google.com/images?q=escalators+changi+airport&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&sa=N&start=20&ndsp=20

Lai Ziying

S101

Elderly Challenge - Observation 1

Elderly Challenges On Buses

(during rainy days & when on double-decker buses)

Part 1--During Rainy Days:

As buses gradually become one of the most often used public transport, that probably means that there are more problems that the elderly will meet when they are on buses.

During rainy days, the floor of the bus may be very slippery and this may cause  accidents to happen. Since the elderly have problems in mobility, some accidents can be falling accidents and injure themselves. In order to avoid the occurrence of such accidents, we need to know the causes of it. First, the floor of the bus is slippery during rainy days is because of the wet umbrellas and the wet shoes of the commuters. 

In order to resolve this problem and to reduce the risk of the elderly falling, there are two things that can be done. 

First, is to provide the commuters with umbrella bags to keep their umbrellas. Also, the commuters should have a sense of responsibility by bringing their own bags to put the umbrellas in so that we can save the environment. The diagram below is the picture of the umbrella bags which I am referring to.

The image is taken from: http://www.irisong.com/photo/umbrella_bag.jpg

Second, is to place a water absorbing mat by the entrance of the bus so that the commuters can dry the bottom of their shoes before going into the bus.

Below is a website that sells such water absorbing entrance mat and the price starts with about $20.

http://mats.apluswhs.com/entrance-mats/water-absorbing-entrance-mats/

Part 2--when on double-decker buses:

When elderly people are boarding the double-decker buses, it will be very dangerous and inconvenient for them to process to the second level to take their seats.


As public, we should let the elderly to have the priority to take the seats on the first level in order to reduce the risk of accidents from happening. 


Also, I think we should have finger-like curves for the poles on buses. This is to allow the elderly to grip more firmly to the pole in case if no seats are available. We have to improve on the poles because not all elderly people are able to grip the hanging handles on the buses.

Lai Ziying 
S101

Holiday HW Part1-Understanding of the 'The Elderly Challenge'

Explain in your own words, the FOUR key recommendations of the report.

1. Housing for senior citizens.
2. Accessibility of public places for senior citizens 
3.Healthcare & eldercare for senior citizens 
4.Opportunities provided for senior citizens to contribute to the community

State ONE way that the CAI report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly.

1. The report mentions about working with market players to offer reverse mortgage schemes for elderly HDB flat lessees at commercial terms so that the elderly can have their house retained while having an income.

State TWO ways on how we can ensure that the quality of elderly care here in Singapore is affordable.1. Singapore government will share the budget surpluses with senior citizens by topping them into their Medisave accounts so that they can afford the Healthcare costs.

2. The family physicians will should take care of the seniors' needs holistically.

After reading the CAI report, what do you think are the 3 things that you can do, as an SST student, to help overcome these elderly challenges?

1. To be more understanding towards the elderly cleaners in SST by helping them when we can and be thankful for they have been doing for the school.

2. Help the elderly in public places, such as by helping them to board the MRT and buses, and to make them feel safe and confident when they are interacting with the public.

3. Be respectful too all elderly people and start with our own grandparents. Make them feel important to the family and the society by interacting with them more often and encourage them to participate in activities organised by the neighbourhood centres.

Lai Ziying

S101

My Group's Animation of the GREEN ball!

Please Click here to see my group's animation of the green ball~!