MANAGING INDOOR FACILITIES IN PUBLIC HOUSING TO IMPROVE ELDERLY QUALITY OF LIFE

摘要

The proportion of elderly persons aged 65 and over in Hong Kong is currently 13.3% and is expected to reach 26.5% by 2031. When experiencing failing health, most elders rely heavily on the indoor facilities available in public housing. However, most public housing is not purposely built for the elderly. To improve elderly quality of life (QoL), appropriate facilities should be provided. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between the indoor facilities management (FM) of public housing and elderly QoL by a questionnaire survey using the post-occupancy evaluation method. In order to understand the complicated relationships among FM and elderly QoL, reliability analysis, t-test, and correlation analysis were adopted. The results of the t-test and correlation analysis indicated that (1) FM components presented significant differences between old and new public housing; and (2) several FM components, such as distance, lighting, non-slip flooring, and doors, had a significant relationship with final elderly QoL in public housing. Based on the findings, several practical recommendations are proposed, including wide entrances with barrier-free access, the repositioning of power sources to seating or table level and installation of non-slip floors in the bathrooms, and handrails near bath cubicles, toilets, and beds.