ABSTRACT
Old age homes are sharing the traditional role of Indian family due to the some factors like increased urbanization, migration of the younger adults of the family to town, in some cases to foreign countries and increased participation of women in paid employment attributing to increase old age homes in India. The design of old age home and its environment will affect more elderly people and it's implications nationwide. There is an urgent need for interventions in order to cope with the consequences of ill design. The purposive random sampling was adopted to select districts, blocks. A sample of sixty elderly people from four old age homes was selected randomly for the study. The study was conducted in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. Descriptive cum experimental research design was adopted. Experimental data was recorded through various instruments whereas descriptive data was collected through interview method using interview schedule, checklist and arbitrary scale. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and the relational statistics. The findings showed that the elderly people belonged to 60-80 years age group and the mean age was 72.5 year. Unmarried female and widows dramatically outnumbered male widowers. The females had better smell & hearing organs than males, but general health status of males was better than females. Accidents due to falls/slips occurred among elderly
people belonged to the age group of 70-80 years, the cause was slippery flooring. Females were more prone to accidental falls than males. The old age homes and its furniture, infrastructural facilities, fittings and fixtures and storage spaces were not constructed according to the anthropometric data and recommendations given for furniture, building codes of Indian standard and require to be building ergonomically. Majority of males were in moderate risk category, while the females were in high risk prone zones yet they affirmed to be satisfied with the available facilities and in other cases though satisfied but they perceived higher risk. Elderly people were found to be in moderate range of satisfaction level. Skid resistance "Polycemtiles" and "Ergonomically designed Chair" are recommended for the old age homes. This will reduce health hazards and ensure safety. Some of the diseases identified can be treated in the present health system through a health care programmes. The findings of the investigation brought out a number of implications for concerned users, builders, architects, manufacturers, and equipment designers for a variety of products and facility design applications.
