An Assessment of Dining Room Design Aspects in Housing for Elderly People

Abstract

Dining room in houses should be designed ergonomically in a way that are easy to handle and operateand should be provided with age-friendly furniture to avoid any injuries.The study aimed to understand the dining room design features in elderly people housing. Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh is selected as study location. A sample of 60 elderly women was selected purposively. The existing dining room of elderly houses were physically observed and evaluated as per the standard recommended design guidelines. The study revealed that majority (93%) of the dining rooms had both direct and indirect accessibility to various rooms as per the guidelines. It was observed that maximum houses where elderly are residing had ceiling of dining area at a height above the recommended guidelines.Provision of circulation Space in dining area was felt neutral by more than half respondents. Most of the elderly preferred dining area in every house with recommended features.There is an association between the existing dining room design and the needs of the respondents to age in place with reference to dining room design.