Research on Design Preferences of Furniture for the Elderly in the Home Care Model Based on Q Methodology

The “aging of the population” is an inevitable topic in the development of modern society. As early as 1870, France, where the economy took off after the industrial revolution, had a population over 60 accounting for 12% of the total population, becoming the world's first elderly type nation. Since then, more than 50 countries including China, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan have also entered an aging society, and the issue of elderly care has also attracted much attention. In our country, most of them are only children, which can satisfy the care of life while maintaining a unique and relatively independent space. However, in the era of high housing prices, this model has certain requirements for the economic status of the family^[1]. At present, most of the elderly living in our country choose welfare facilities such as traditional nursing homes, and most of them still choose home for the elderly. In the home life, furniture is closely related to the life of the elderly. Therefore, this research aims to investigate and analyze the preference of relevant personnel for the design of furniture suitable for the elderly under the home care model. According to the survey of the elderly, the Q method is used to classify and analyze 33 Q samples, and finally it is concluded that "design focusing on the life behavior, physiological and psychological characteristics of the elderly" is the most biased design element of the designer.