Design Requirement of Bathroom and Toilet for the Elderly in Malaysia

Abstract

According to previous research, the toilet and bathroom are the most common locations where injuries and accidents involving elderly people occur. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues and challenges of existing toilets and bathrooms among the Malaysian elderly and to identify appropriate solutions for them. The Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) sessions were implemented in this study, which involved a total of nineteen respondents, including elderly aged 60 years and above, their caregivers/family members, and agencies/authorities related to housing planning/development and technologies as well as researchers/experts. The recorded data were transcribed into text and organized systematically in the House of Quality (HoQ) for technical analysis. The focus group findings revealed that the four categorized issues raised by respondents in this study were quality, design, cost, and function. Furthermore, based on the HoQ analysis, it indicated that the top five highest ranks of customer requirements (CRs) for a new bathroom and toilet design requirement were comfortable (Rank 1), safety (Rank 2), affordable price (Rank 3), easy to enter bathroom/toilet (Rank 4) and anti-slippery floor (Rank 5). Meanwhile, the top five highest rank of technical requirements (TRs) refer to the existing OKU toilet design (Rank 1), anti-slip ramp & small drain under toilet door (Ranks 2 and 3), relocating existing toilet accessories, e.g., sink bow (Rank 4) and categories the cost according to the minor, major or new design (Rank 5). The information gathered could be used to develop appropriate bathrooms and toilets for the elderly in Malaysia.