The Study of the Suitability of Sport Lounge for Elderly after Exercise

Abstract

Light movement Or making the body gradually Cooling down after exercise is extremely important for the heartbeat and life safety of the elderly. The purposes of this study are firstly, to study the variables that influences the body temperature in elderly after exercise. Secondly, to design the cool down space that will be suitable for elderly. Lastly, to propose guidelines for improving the Sport Lounge after exercise for elderly in Thailand. The research methodology was One Group Pretest - Posttest Design. The purposive sample group is the 102 elderlies with good health condition who live in the nursing home in Chonburi. The research instruments that used in this study are 1. Scientific instrument and 2. Questionnaire regarding the preferred environment for elderly. The analysis was made by using collected data, pictures, graph and averaged statistics.

            The result of research can be divided into two points, which are 1. The variables that influences the body temperature both pre and post exercise is turned out to be 24.580 and 26.066 Celsius with ASHRAE specification was 24.5 Celsius, relative humidity was 51.879% and 51.665% was slightly higher than specification around 1.665-1.879%, air rapidity was 0.131 and 0.132 knot slightly lower than requirement, 0.18-0.19 knot. Average body surface temperature was 26.872 and 28.066. Degrees Celsius. The results for evaluating the sensory comfort of the elderly were -0.833 and -0.628 lower than the ASHRAE requirement, which was 0.  and 2.  Design and improvement guidelines after exercise (Cool down) for the elderly, it was found that the environment must have windows to see the nature outside and receive natural light. The elderly were satisfied with the room temperature between 24-27 Degrees Celsius, but the researcher found that at 26 degrees Celsius is the most suitable temperature to avoid exposing the elderly to too cold air after just exercising.  The floor in the elderly post-exercise room should not have a leveled floor or a ramp.  But if unavoidable, according to the standard specification, the ramp should have a slope of 1:12 and should be painted to distinguish the floor.  An optional accessory is a sitting chair that the elderly can move and move easily.  And the support handrails should be installed. Moreover, a relative humidity of 51.665% and an air velocity of 0.132 knot close to the ASHRAE specification, with a relative humidity of 50% and an air velocity of 0.15 knot are required.