Progressive Kitchen Design for the Elderly

摘要

The growth of aging population in Taiwan is one of the highest in the world since 2015. According to the statistics from National Development Council database, Taiwan will be an aged society in 2017.  Furthermore, 84% of aging population in Taiwan have self-care capability. However, there is no kitchen design guidelines for the elderly in Taiwan. The main purpose of this study is to establish a progressive kitchen guidelines for Taiwanese elderly based on the ergonomics principles. By modifying the current house without changing the structure, hope life quality could be improved with ageing. First, related references were studied. Second, self-care elderly was classified into three groups by mobility ability: (a) independent, (b) required cane, and (c) required wheelchair. Finally, different physical related research and Taiwanese anthropometry data are applied to establish the progressive kitchen evaluation list. Then, individual suggestion for 10 Taiwanese kitchens with the evaluation list. This study integrated the elderly kitchen guidelines and draft the schematics of progressive kitchen.