Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyse the relations among the residents' characteristics, the policy of the facility, and the physical characteristics of activity areas, and to understand the elements for the lively use of activity areas in the elderly nursing facilities. The results of the study are as follows: First, there was a relationship between the characteristics of semi-public activity areas and the residents' management-control policy. The facilities having semi-public areas of living room type showed more flexibility in time and place and more respects for the residents. Second, the activity areas of connection type were much more used than the compartment type, especially in the facilities having more residents incapable of walking. On the other hand, the facilities having high control for the residents showed high using rate in public activity areas, and all those did not have semi-public areas or showed low using rate in there. Third, in the analysis of the relationship between the physical characteristics and the using rate of activity areas, the public activity areas having compartment type in the spatial composition and hall as a form were likely to have multiple usages. On the whole, the various form of activity areas, the area per residents, openness, accessibility and centrality were having interactions each other for high using rate in activity areas. Especially, many stimulations and the furniture arrangements that were good for the residents' interactions had a function of compensation for the poor physical characteristics of activity areas. This study investigated only the using rates to understand the lively use of the space. For the future study, it is suggested that the detail using behavior of the residents should be examined to understand the influential elements.
