Improving Safety for the Elderly at Home
The present number of people over 65 years in Taiwan of China is more than 10％ of total population. This proportion is growing at an increasing rate, due to social and medical progress. However, perceived family obligations are changing, in part as a result of greater geographic mobility. Hence more and more elderly people may expect to be looking after themselves at home. The study aims to investigate how well elderly people manage at home; what kind of help they may need; how it may be best be provided. A sample of 87 elderly people participated. The questionnaire covered respondents general health and performance of the various activities of daily life by the Barthel Index. We also enquired how they felt their independence and safety at home could best be maintained. This questionnaire was supplemented by physical measure of their grip strength by JAMA dynamometer. At age of above 65, the mean grip strength was reduced by around 27％ when compared with that in the prime of life. The grip strength was correlated with capacity to perform activities of daily life. The most efficient grip strength is produced when holding a cylindrical handle approximately 4.76cm diameter. From this study we identified the important variables helping to maintain physically independence and safety at home. In future designers will pay more attention to the needs of elderly users of hand-held devices on which they increasingly depend. We hope from our study to draw lessons that may be used by those planning safe housing for the elderly and disabled, and those designing tools to aid them in the activities of daily life.
elderly people barthel Index Activities of Daily Life (ADL) Instrumental Activities of Daily Life (IADL)
WU Shu-Wen WU Su-Fang LIN Chao-Yin WU I-Chen WU Yu-Ling HUNG Hsiu-Wen KUO Yi-Chun
Department of Multimedia Design, Tajen University, Pintung, Taiwan, China Department of Health Management, Tajen University, Pintung, Taiwan, China Center of Service and Learning, Tajen University, Pintung, Taiwan, China Institute of Recreation & Health Management, Tajen University, Pintung, Taiwan, China Institute of Health Management,Chianan University, Tainan, Taiwan, China
国际会议
The 2010 International Symposium on Safety Science and Technology(2010 安全科学与技术国际会议)
杭州
英文
2308-2311
2010-10-26（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）