抄録
Background
The supply of housing for the elderly has increased rapidly in recent years. To plan the units in elderly housing, an understanding of the correspondence between household goods and space, and a detailed study of how various elderly people live are needed. However, most reports on housing for the elderly are concerned with the availability of medical and nursing care services, or such quantitative trends as building information represented by unit area and descriptions of interior facilities. Compared to research on nursing homes, prior research on housing for the elderly includes only a few studies focusing on household goods.
Objective
The aim of this study are to determine the quantity and layout of household goods in serviced housing units for the elderly and to obtain indicators of the relationship between household goods and unit space.
Research Method
The research methods used were a survey on the style of living in elderly housing and resident interviews. In the style of living survey, the furniture, appliances, and other household goods inside the unit are entered into a floor plan for 23 units having one-person households in two elderly housing complexes: F and M. The survey included 11 1K (one bedroom and kitchen) 27 m2 units in elderly housing F, and 5 1R (one bedroom) and 7 1DK (one bedroom and dining-kitchen area) 33 m2 units in elderly housing M. In the interviews, we inquired about changes in living conditions and diet, among other topics, before and after moving into the housing for the elderly.
Conclusions
(1) In more than 90% of the cases, four household goods were confirmed to be distributed in the unit: a television set, microwave oven, refrigerator, and bed. (2) Attributes that influence the quantity and number of classifications of articles were the individual factor of sex and the environmental factor of the unit area after moving in. However, there was no clear relationship between the quantity and number of classifications of articles and physical condition. (3) The bed was arranged parallel to the longest wall and opposite to the entrance of the room. (4) In the 27 m2 units, only two of three goods—cupboard, refrigerator, and microwave oven—were distributed in 73% of the cases, while in the 33 m2 units, 83% of the cases had all three of these goods. Furthermore, in the 1DK 33 m2 units, furniture for food preparation was distributed in the kitchen space. (5) For the types of seating furniture and rug, placement of a chair was most frequently, at 43% and 68% for unit areas of 27 m2 and 33 m2, respectively. The average numbers of chairs or rugs were 1.9 in the 27 m2 units, 4.0 in the 1R, and 3.0 in the 1DK of the 33 m2 units. (6) The layout of articles in the residence was classified into six types, based on the presence of a bed, the number of articles in the layout related to meals and cooking, the presence and type of dining table, and the type of seating furniture and rugs.
