Development of An Indoor Space Performance Assessment Tool of Senior Housing for Healthy Aging

Abstract

The physical environments of houses have profound effects on the quality of life and health of older adults. However, despite its significance, comparatively few studies have been conducted on tools that can objectively evaluate the physical performance of houses inhabited by older adults. Therefore, this study aims to develop an assessment tool to evaluate the indoor space performance of senior housing from the perspective of the residents’ health. Content analysis and the Delphi method were used for this study. First, evaluation items were derived through reviews of prior studies. Then, an assessment tool was developed through two times of expert Delphi surveys. As a result of extracting items based on importance and reliability, which were analyzed according to expert opinions, a total of 165 evaluation items were developed. By space type, the bedroom consisted of 32 items, the living room consisted of 37 items, the kitchen consisted of 37 items, the bathroom consisted of 33 items, the entrance consisted of 21 items, and the balcony consisted of 5 items. The tool developed in this study can be used to evaluate the performance suitability of the senior housing from the point of view of the elderly’ health.