Many ageing people are staying at home, whether they are self-isolating or social distancing, because of the current Covid-19 situation. Fall incidents at home among the ageing are significantly associated with a high level of mortality. Bathrooms are frequently reported as a major environmental hazard in connection with falls. This serious health risk raises the matter of interior architecture. In terms of preventing falls, more architectural research focuses on interior elements e.g., handrail design, and non-slip mat, whilst less attention is paid to the issue of how ageing causes falls. Therefore, this article sheds light on the normal ageing process through an executive function that helps in the fall prevention of ageing people via decision-making and problem-solving. Normal ageing gradually results in declining executive function, including cognitive and motor functions, which limits and reduces day to day activities. The cognitive function (as a system) involves processing speed, accuracy in response, and error response whereas the motor function (as a mechanism) defines both gross and fine motor functions. A combination of cognitive and motor functions reflects conditions that may lead to a fall. Regarding the executive function, interior architecture for preventing falls in normal ageing people is strongly encouraged e.g., clear layout, timesaving activity, simplicity of design, lighting uniformity, short walking distance, cased opening, lightweight fixtures, and fine texture flooring. This article reviews the literature to address the knowledge gaps between interior architecture and human-centred design through ageing ergonomics, and employs a behaviour-focused aspect to interpret results for interior architects. Electronic databases, including Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar, were searched to specify appropriate papers, which were restricted to those in the English language. To improve the quality of the elderly’s life, this article provides recommendations that could assist interior architects in this challenge.

No abstract

Objective. This study aims to investigate an association between body postures and autonomic nervous system (ANS) responses through analysis of short-term heart rate variability (HRV) data obtained through electrocardiography. Methods. Forty older individuals were recruited to form the sample. HRV measurements were taken in three positions—sitting, supine, and standing—and compared. Results. Results demonstrated statistically significant differences in the HRV parameters used to examine the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), specifically in the measurements obtained from the sitting position and the supine position ( P  < 0.001 for PNS and P  = 0.011 for SNS). The differences in these parameters were, however, negligible between the sitting and the standing positions. Moreover, the ANS responses obtained in the sitting position were strongly and positively correlated with those in the standing position (r = 0.854 for PNS and r = 0.794 for SNS). These results suggested that the PNS and SNS parameters obtained while sitting were likely to be affected by orthostatic hypotension in much the same way as those in the standing position, as compared to the supine position. Conclusions. As such, sitting may not be the best position for older individuals in the assessment of their autonomic responses, whereas the supine position is recommended as the baseline posture in the old-age population. These findings are useful for future research in clinical settings that require accuracy in the ANS responses as determined by the HRV measurements.

No abstract

This review is aimed to suggest opportunities where physiological concept may be useful to design trends to suit this rapid increase of elderly Thai population. A review of articles is presented to establish background information on the circumstance of the country which is entering the stage of becoming aging society. Also, the review provides comprehensive discussion from falls in older people to fall prevention which can be managed by interior design of the ergonomics concept. The review indicates that falls result from a complex interaction between personal factors (e.g., vision, hearing, posture, and gait) and environmental factors (environmental hazards) generating challenges and barriers related to the built environment (e.g., bathroom, built-in and loose furniture, flooring and stepping, and lighting). In this review, design recommendations which focus on bathroom function are described to promote better design integration with egonomics as a component of interior design for falls prevention strategy. Forming understanding of falls, what can increase chance of falls and what can be done as a precaution in terms of design will bring more possible opportunities to reduce the incidence, minimize chance of consequent injuries, improve overall well-being of older adults as well as possibly give inspiration on improving the quality of life.