Effectiveness Audit Accessibilities for Senior Citizen Comfortability

EFFECTIVENESS AUDIT ACCESSIBILITIES FOR SENIOR CITIZEN COMFORTABILITY: ( A CASE STUDY OF THE HERITAGE RESIDENCES AND HEALTH CARE CENTRE IN MALAYSIA )
Abstraction
Missing in accessible environment will curtail aged and handicapped individual to bask their life ( Tan, 2008 ) . Person with disablements ( PWDs ) will restrict by the physical barriers in a edifice. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze ways to better the degree of handiness in edifices for the aged and handicapped people in the built environment, particularly in infirmary and retirement Centre. This paper tends to place the degree of handiness in infirmary and abodes edifices in Selangor, Malaysia. This survey comprises literature reappraisal, informations aggregation, observations and table research to research on how to accomplish friendly and comfy entree for all particularly aged and handicapped. This survey tends to make full the spread of the old survey on the handiness of senior citizen and disables. The findings will let the edifice supplier to upgrade bing installations in order to suit accessible built environment for the aged and handicapped people. Findingss revealed that failings found are caused by hapless design, deficiency of policies and ordinance every bit good as limited guidelines. Final portion of this paper provides some recommendation in proposed guidelines in regard to the individual with disablements ( PWDs ) needs.

Keywords: Accessibility, Person with disablements ( PWDs ) , Built environment
1. Introduction
Malaysia is a underdeveloped state with a population of 29.62 million in twelvemonth 2013. Out of this 29.62 million, 1.56 million – 2.75 million are those aged and people with disablements ( PWDs ) . Although the population of Malaysia is considered younger than others developed states, nevertheless the ageing population is increasing twelvemonth to twelvemonth resulted from birthrate diminution. It is proven from the Statisticss of Malaysia that ageing population is increasing about 5 % each twelvemonth. Harmonizing to a old survey, it is estimated that the population of ageing and aged will increase to 15 % of the state population in the twelvemonth 2030. Health attention and residences edifices take on particular significance as the rapid increasing of ageing and disabled in our society is widely recognized today. As the aged and handicapped population grows, it is progressively of import to happen a more efficient service for this group. This survey can be a guideline for architecture, developer every bit good as authorities bureau in fixing the act and ordinance in reinforced environment. This survey highlighted that accessible design must do edifices more approaching and easier for come ining and utilizing. In concurrence to this, an accessible design must incorporate with the inside and outside of edifice elements. In other words, an accessible design should able supply a high degree of safety life and should let people to execute their day-to-day life and activity more freely. Last, accessible design must incorporate with a edifice ‘s map, layout every bit good as signifier. This seminar paper will discourse about the effectivity and process to carry on entree audit for handicapped comfy. The concluding aim of this authorship is to measure and happen another attack to supply a pleasant entree audit. In order to supply accessible environment for ageing and aged, it is of import to understand assorted group of individual with disablements. Basically individual with disablements can be divided into four major classs which are orthopedic, centripetal, cognitive and multiple.
Orthopaedic
This class is the people who are enduring orthopedic disablements such as locomotor disablements.
Sensory
This group of individual with disablements refers to people with centripetal disablements in footings of either hearing or ocular. However, this group of people normally come in both which mean they will endure both.
Cognitive
Peoples in this group refer to them who are enduring mental illness such as development or acquisition disablements.
Multiple
Multiple refer to those who are enduring with the combination of orthopedic, centripetal and/or cognitive disablements.
2. ELDERLYttriumAND PERSON WITH DISABILITY ( PWDs )
Elderly or senior citizens refer to those who are at age of higher than mean life p of homo. However, there is no formal boundary age for aged and senior citizens. It is vary from each state on how the state defined the boundary for aged and senior citizens. In Malaysia, elderly or senior citizens are those who are in age of 60 old ages old and above while individual with disablements are those who are enduring job in term of orthopedic, centripetal, cognitive every bit good as combination of these three. In order to protect the individual with disablements, Malaysia authorities has introduced Persons with Disabilities Act ( PWDA ) in 2008. In the twelvemonth 2006, around two hundred 1000s of handicapped people have been registered under the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia ( DSW ) .

Graph 1 Population of Elderly and Disabled Person in Malaysia and Australia in 2009
Beginning: Wellness National Data 2009 – Institute of Gerontology, UPM

Graph 2 Aging Populations in Malaysia from 1970 to 2020
Beginning: Department of Statistics, Malaysia
3. CodeOFPRACTICEON ACCESSFOR DISABLED Peoples: DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS
In order to protect individual with disablements, Malaysia authorities has introduced Malaysia Standards on Disabled Person ( MS ) in 2002 and a more recent and powerful one which is Persons with Disabilities Act ( PWDA ) in 2008. Malaysia Standards on Disabled Person ( MS ) in 2002 is concentrating on supplying comfort environment and installations for handicapped individual in Malaysia. However, this is merely a criterion but non Acts of the Apostless, hence some garbage to follow the guidelines or the Standards. Therefore in 2008, Malaysia authorities introduced the Persons with Disabilities Act ( PWDA ) . Part of this act has written that those who did non obey or follow the act will be all right and gaol. There are fundamentally five elements to be considered in planing infirmary and abode edifices which are:

Obstructions

Figure 1: Obstructions
Beginning: Sciverse ScienceDirect

Street furniture

Figure 2: Idea dimension of tabular array that fits wheelchair users
Beginning: Sciverse ScienceDirect

Curb inclines

Figure 3: Design of Curb inclines
Beginning: Sciverse ScienceDirect

Parking

Figure 5: Dedicated parking tonss design for the individual with disablements
Beginning: Sciverse ScienceDirect
4. REVIEW OF EFFECTIVENESS AUDIT ACCESSIBILITIES

Hospital Sungai Long ( HSL )

Figure 6: Hospital Sungai Long
Beginning: HSL web page at hypertext transfer protocol: //hospitalsungailong.com/web/contact-us/location-map.html
Hospital Sungai Long is located at Pt 21147, Persiaran SL1, Bandar Sungai Long, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. This edifice consists of 6 floors with 60 beds available. This infirmary began its operation in 2012. An entree audit was performed in April 2014 for bing edifice and installations. Based on the observation and findings, this infirmary is non so accessible for aged and PWDs.

Figure 7: Parking tonss of HSL
Beginning: Case survey of HSL, Kajang ( 2014 )
This is the lone parking batch next to the chief entryway provided by Hospital Sungai Long which consists of non more than 10 tonss. In concurrence to this, there are 4 parking tonss provided for physicians and specializers staffs of Hospital Sungai Long. In fact they didn’t provide any parking tonss for aged and handicapped individual that should approach the chief entryway. It will take a long distance for aged to travel through the chief entryway. Besides that, there are no pronounced parking infinites across the site for those who are registered under individual with disablements ( a valid spine ) . In order to work outing this job, Hospital Sungai Long should supply parking tonss for aged and disabled that near chief entryway and painted in different colour from other tonss.

Figure 8: Main entryway of HSL
Beginning: Case survey of HSL, Kajang ( 2014 )
The figure shows the chief entryway of Hospital Sungai Long. Hospital Sungai Long is utilizing manual operation door and it is hard undertaking for aged and disabled to open the door particularly those utilizing wheelchairs. Other than that, it may make some uncertainness for aged and individual with disablement such as autumn down to floor and others. Therefore, it is recommended that Hospital Sungai Long should utilize automatic door for easy usage of aged and handicapped individual although it incurred a higher cost.

Figure 9: Nerve pathway of HSL
Beginning: Case survey of HSL, Kajang ( 2014 )
The tract provided from Hospital Sungai Long is excessively slanted. The tract has exceeded the Malayan Standard MS 1184: 2002 which is non more than 1:12. It is hard for aged and individual with disablements to acquire usage of it. Therefore, Hospital Sungai Long should supply a tract of gradient non more than 1:12.

Figure 10: Toilet in HSL
Beginning: Case survey of HSL, Kajang ( 2014 )
This is the figure of lavatory provided in Hospital Sungai Long. The lavatory is good equipped with inveighing that easy accessible for the aged and handicapped individual. However, the country is excessively little. The country is a spot narrow for wheelchairs users. Besides that, there is no haptic surface installed. The installing of haptic surface is to avoid those uncertainnesss such as autumn on floor and others. As a decision, Hospital Sungai Long should better installations provided for aged and individual with disablements by enlarge the size of lavatory and put in haptic surface.

Figure 11: Lift installed in HSL
Beginning: Case survey of HSL, Kajang ( 2014 )
The figure shows the lift installed in Hospital Sungai Long. Overall, the lift is user friendly. For illustration, the button is 1200mm from the floor degree and it is easy accessible for wheelchairs users. However, there is no haptic warning surface installed in forepart of the lift. Therefore, it is recommended that Hospital Sungai Long should supply tactile warning surface for vision impaired and a bigger lift that able to suit more wheelchair users.