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Interviewing Pauline Ng
 
En-suite Master Bedroom
 
After we passed through the white French patio doors, we saw the master bedroom which were joined from two separate bedrooms.  Pauline joked that she would spend the rest of her life here.  I just wonder whether she was referring to the inside or the outside of her home.
 
The master bedroom consists of two sections.  In one section, a bed is placed in front of a large window. There is ample space on the two sides of the bed with a lot of sockets on both sides and a television at the end of the bed.  Right opposite to the bed is a bathroom closed behind a large white-lattice glass sliding door. I find it very elegant-looking and very French, but why directly opposite to the bed?
 
Path between the bed and bathroom should be unobstructed
 
Pauline explained that elderly people suffer different stages of incontinence and the bathroom ought to be as conveniently located as possible.  When the body no longer functions properly and one has to rely on a walker, there is nothing better than having the bathroom close to you or on an unobstructed and shortest path from your bed. Besides, if the elder has to use wheelchair, he or she may have to rely on wheeled commode chair to access the bathroom for shower or using the toilet.  Therefore, the pathway in-between has to be unobstructed, such that the carer can maneuver the commode chair easily.
 
Pauline added that elderly persons are often reluctant to disturb others. For instance, even if he or she needs to use the toilet at night, they tend to go on their own without waking up the carer who is exhausted after a long day of hard work. Hence, in terms of design, we must first ensure that the elderly can move around easily if he or she is capable of doing so.  If real estate developers and architects can consider more about using the universal design when designing the width of corridors and door frames, location of light switches, etc., the number of home accidents concerning the elderly would certainly be reduced.
 
Avoid Doorsill
I noticed that there is a curved strip of matching tile, like a piece of split bamboo, used as a doorsill between the bedroom and bathroom. Isn’t that universal design asks for wheelchair to be unimpeded? In fact, this doorsill is not high, but is sufficient to prevent water from flowing into the bedroom. When I entered the bathroom with my wheelchair, I found that both the front and rear wheels moved smoothly over the curved tile. More importantly, I did not even have to lift the front wheels deliberately for crossing over.
 
Pauline thought about it and said, “I still hope that the doorsill can be removed. But at the moment, I haven’t yet figured out how quickly the water discharged from a shower on a toilet chair runs down the drains. I am also not certain if soiled water would overflow into the bedroom.  Once I have tested it and found no problem with the drainage, I shall remove the doorsill because doorsill is a big risk for the elderly.”
 
Pauline stared at the clear ceiling and remarked that eventually hanging rails can be installed if needed in the future.  As such, even when one cannot leave the bed, he or she can still be transferred into the bathroom with the help of the hanging rail. She said when she was a child, she thought that it would be nice not to get up in cold winter mornings and be transferred directly from the bed to the bathroom.  With this device, having a good shower everyday would not be a problem for the elderly.  I also find this idea quite ingenious.
 
Wardrobe needs to be spacious and everything visual at one glance
 
The other section of the master bedroom has been turned into a study and a changing area.  In front of the windows sit a European classical desk and a matching bureau with display shelves.  Next to them is a large wardrobe like a Japanese-style closet, which keeps everything behind two large sliding doors. Pauline opened the doors and we saw a big storage area with neatly labelled boxes stacked behind the clothes hung on rails.    
 
On the other side of the closet, there is another wardrobe. Pauline told me that she may later on install an electrically-driven hanger at the upper part of the wardrobe. When needed, she may have the hanger dropped to eye level for choosing clothes. The drawers at the lower half of the wardrobe are transparent. Pauline said that this design enables her to see everything at one glance and that is important when her memory fails when getting old.
 
Carefully planning in selecting fixtures
 
The master bathroom is definitely designed for the elderly or, to be exact, for the wheelchair-bound.  Walls of the bathroom are often wet, especially during springtime.  If one needs to hang onto the bathroom walls to get support for standing up or moving around, it is not entirely safe because of the slippery surface. Pauline has chosen rough-surface tiles to avoid this problem.
 
An appropriate distance is kept between the water closet and the shower, which allows the carer to move and turn around easily.  This is important because the caregiver must have enough space to work so as to keep herself and the one she looks after safe.  However, housing in Hong Kong is usually small in size; the space of bathroom is often sacrificed so as to provide more space for living room and bedrooms. In fact, in terms of size, Pauline’s bathroom is not so much different from other households. Yet, by adjusting the size of the shower cubicle, the position of the toilet and the depth of the washing basin, the bathroom looks entirely different. 
 
No glass panel is used for the shower cubicle, but handrails are provided. When Pauline showed us the bathroom, she drew our attention specifically to the position of the shelf that holds the shower gel and shampoo.  The shelf should be handy to the caregiver so that there is no need to turn around frequently, resulting in back injuries, and no risk of losing sight of the elderly during shower.
 
Comfortable lighting and air circulation
 
Pauline emphasized that for those who are over 60, the rooms must be well lit preferably with natural sunlight, ready to be shielded with the help of appropriate blinds or curtains, as total reliance on artificial lighting is not enough. During the design stage, consideration should be given to the lighting requirements for different purposes in different parts of the unit, especially those parts where reading will take place. Reflective lighting is best for the eyes.
 
When one gets older, one becomes less comfortable with cold weather.  Many are not accustomed to using air-conditioner at all time.  For an elderly person, constant temperature is very important.  Pauline’s home is fitted with split air conditioners for both cooling and heating.  She reminded us that we must also keep the bathroom well ventilated and the temperature and humidity consistent with the bedroom.
 
 
 
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