노인의 인지능력 개선을 위한 공간의 디자인 방향성 제시

Abstract

(Background and Purpose) The changed environment for the elderly requires a space that contains not only the body but also various functions such as leisure, rest, and work. However, cognitive ability improvement facilities are often incorporated without considering the characteristics and functions of the space and the surrounding environment. Spatial design that takes into account the human-centered, culturally oriented, digital, and ecological characteristics that fall under the domain of spatial design can be effective not only in improving the environment for the elderly but also in improving their cognitive abilities. This study sought the direction in which space should be designed by grafting four elements of spatial design for the purpose of improving the cognitive abilities of the elderly. The purpose of the study was to provide an environment in which the elderly can maintain good personal and social lives even as their life expectancy increases and they grow older in a aging society. (Method) Based on a literature review and previous research, the characteristics and functions of cognition and the domain of spatial design were examined. As evaluating factors, a plan in the domains of cognitive function and spatial design was derived through interviews with six experts. For the case study, we selected five spaces related to cognition and dementia that were selected based on specialized articles and mass media related to the elderly. The temporal scope of the case study was limited to spaces designed after 2010. (Results) The characteristics of the elements of the cognitive ability and spatial design of the five spaces related to dementia were as follows. First, memory appeared in the order of human-ecology-culture-digital. Language ability appeared in the order of culture-ecology-human-digital, and orientation in the order of human-culture-ecology-digital. Attention ability was found to be in the order of human-ecology-culture-digital, and executive ability in the order of human-culture-ecology-digital. (Conclusion) The direction of spatial design to improve the cognitive abilities of the elderly is that the four domains of spatial design should be appropriately integrated into the spatial environment for each element of cognitive ability, but considering the trend of the times, it seems that the digital-led design domain will have a major effect on improving the cognitive abilities of the elderly in the future. Therefore, the spatial environment is built based on human-centered and ecology-based design, but it is believed that the direction of incorporating digital space and culture-oriented design for the elderly should be further explored.