Abstract
Current world population is rapidly ageing and the disabled population is expected to age seriously as well. The concern about the elderly and the disabled is increased largely not just the field of social welfare and service but the housing planning where the physical environment of everyday life is. Recently in Ireland, 'Universal Design Guideline for Homes' is established and proposed in public. It is considered as initial and special national policy for the socially venerable. The purpose of this research is to analyze the User Benefit Characteristics(UBC) of 'Universal Design Guideline for Homes in Ireland' and clearly organize the characteristics for comprehensive communication. The research subjects are 444 guidelines of 'Universal Design Guideline for Homes in Ireland.' The research is conducted by contents analysis technique, and each guideline is analyzed by the 4 main concepts of UBC- 'Behavioral Facilitation(BF)', 'Physiological Maintenance(PhM)', 'Perceptual Maintenance(PM)', 'Social Facilitation(SF).' As results, the User Benefit Characteristic of 'Universal Design Guideline for Homes in Ireland' is ordered by PhM>PM>BF>SF. The design guidelines are supposed to support ageing in place and sustainable living in the existing houses even though people are ageing or being disabled. 'Universal Design Guideline for Homes in Ireland' supports safe behavior and comfort cognition especially in indoor and surrounding outdoor environment. This research is significant for sharing the knowledge and comprehension of decreasing environmental stress of the elderly in specific, and could be utilized for developing new elderly housing in future.
