Living Conditions of Elderly after Flat Building Relocation to A High Rise Building : A Case Study of “G Building” The Community of Humanity Din Daeng Community , Din Daeng District , Bangkok

Abstract

The study of living conditions of the elderly after they being relocated from Dindaeng low-rise flat with five storeys to G building with 28 storeys .( G building is first building of Dindaeng restoration projects which developed by National Housing Authority ) And to study the elders’ behavior in high-rise building as well as analyzing the conditions of living, behavior, problems and limitations of the elderly after relocating to a G building, to suggest the design of suitable housing for the elderly in high-rise buildings.
            The data collection consisted of 3 processes, firstly, the 86 sets of questionnaires were collected while there were 31 seniors who took the structural interviews. Finally, the in-depth interview, observation of the elders’ behaviour and survey in nine senior's rooms. The information analysis revealed that the majority of the senior citizens are marriage females who age at approximately 60 to 69 year, and have congenital diseases, especially hypertension. According to number people who living in the room , there were average two people to live in each room. In terms of living conditions, there were found that in the rooms, Elders use improper furniture for elders’ physical body such as furniture scale too high. And the door sills that were found to be added around two to five centimetres that may cause the accidental stumble and fall in elderly. For the public garden in the G building, Although there is the public garden on the seventh floor, it is rarely used by the residents because this place having a high temperature in day time. Moreover, in the case of unexpected accidents, this area don’t have staff for taking care of them.
            According to the result, there are developed to suggest several solutions. The most important one is the furniture for elders should be designed for the individual. For door sills problem, The floor should be flat, the door should be install rubber seals around a door to prevent insect or dust from entering their rooms instead of constructing the high door sills. For public garden on the seventh floor, add a pavilion in the garden to encourage elderly people to use this area. This enables to bring about creating more social communication and participation among them, which means that the community will become lively and invigorating.