Boost Your Aged Care Business with Thoughtfully Designed Senior Chairs

The elderly have always been a group that requires special attention. As the global population ages, adapting living arrangements and environments to meet the unique needs of the elderly has become increasingly important. The global elderly care market is currently in a period of rapid expansion, with elderly care facilities and elderly care furniture demonstrating significant market opportunities and potential. According to an analysis by Maximize Market Research , the total revenue for elderly care is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% from 2025 to 2032, reaching nearly 45.2 billion dollars. This article will focus on the important role that the comfort, safety, and overall well-being of elderly care project furniture play for the elderly population, helping to open up new markets.

As they age, the elderly often face a variety of physical and psychological issues, including joint stiffness, arthritis, insomnia, poor blood circulation, and cognitive impairment. However, due to psychological factors such as ‘not wanting to trouble others’ or ‘being sensitive and fragile,’ many elderly people may choose to remain silent and not actively express their discomfort even when they encounter difficulties in daily life.Many younger individuals, having not yet experienced the aging process themselves, often underestimate the importance of age-friendly home modifications. However, truly effective elderly home design must be approached from the perspective of older adults. It should fully account for the specific challenges they may face as their mobility, sensory abilities, and physical strength gradually decline.

Nursing homes are the places that should understand the psychology of the elderly the most; they are not merely temporary residences but permanent homes. The psychological state of the elderly when moving into a nursing home is complex, with both positive adaptation and potential challenges such as maladaptation and negative emotions. Overall, moving into a nursing home is a dynamic adaptation process for the elderly. How to make them feel at ease and reduce their psychological burden requires home-based ageing-friendly renovations. This should not be simplistically understood as installing handrails in bathrooms or laying anti-slip mats, but rather as addressing the specific issues the elderly face, leaving no detail overlooked. For example, to address the issue of how the elderly can independently use the restroom at night, a series of factors must be considered: how the elderly get out of bed, how they can easily find their shoes, how they can safely walk to the restroom, whether there is appropriate lighting at night, how they can turn around in the restroom, how they can safely sit on the toilet, and how they can safely stand up. It is essential to truly understand the specific inconveniences the elderly face in their daily lives.

Pulling out a chair to sit down for a meal is a commonplace action, but for the elderly, it may be challenging, and there is even a risk of falling while pulling out the chair. This poses significant safety hazards. Caregivers may lack the physical strength to adjust a seated person to a more comfortable or enjoyable position. Therefore, selecting appropriate furniture can help the elderly feel comfortable while also reducing the burden on caregivers, achieving a win-win situation.

Sturdy Structure

In the living environment of the elderly, the safety and stability of chairs must meet commercial-grade standards. This is because the elderly often face issues such as decreased physical coordination and osteoporosis, and a severe fall could result in irreversible health risks. Therefore, the furniture used must not only provide good comfort but also ensure structural durability to provide reliable support for sitting and standing movements. From a material selection perspective, furniture with a solid wood appearance is often perceived as warmer and more inviting. The visual comfort provided by natural wood grain helps create a calm and relaxing living atmosphere, allowing the elderly to feel a sense of stability and connection to nature even when staying indoors.

However, relying solely on solid wood has certain limitations in practical use. In contrast, metal frames, especially aluminium structures, offer advantages such as lightweight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and ease of cleaning, making them increasingly favoured by designers and operators of elderly care spaces. Therefore, metal wood grain furniture, as an emerging market trend, is a good choice. It retains the high strength and stability of metal frames while using surface wood grain transfer technology to achieve a highly realistic solid wood texture. This design not only enhances the overall aesthetic appeal of the space but also balances the psychological sense of security and visual pleasure of users.

Ergonomic design for the elderly

As people age, the body undergoes physiological changes such as skeletal atrophy, muscle loss, and reduced fat, making the elderly more sensitive to the support and comfort provided by furniture. An unsuitable chair not only causes fatigue but may also exacerbate bodily pain and even pose safety risks. In elderly care settings, the time spent sitting in chairs often far exceeds the time spent standing or walking. Prolonged sitting can lead to issues such as seat cushion material weakness, causing sagging and deformation, which may result in poor posture, nerve compression, and pain. Therefore, elderly care furniture must meet higher standards for seat cushion support and durability.

In terms of ergonomics, the seat depth should be controlled between 40–45 centimetres to avoid compressing the knee crease and impairing blood circulation; the backrest angle should be set between 100–110 degrees, with an additional 3–5 centimetres of padding in the lumbar region to effectively distribute lumbar pressure and alleviate fatigue from prolonged sitting.

The design of elderly care furniture must fully consider the physiological characteristics and needs of the elderly, taking into account factors such as depth, angle, support, armrests, and materials, while also creating a conducive elderly care environment to produce safe, comfortable, and practical elderly care furniture.

• Swivel chair setup

How can caregivers easily move elderly individuals with mobility issues to or away from the dining table without causing physical harm? Logically, we need a chair that can be easily moved yet remains stable after movement. Chairs with four wheels are unsafe because they may roll away when the patient leaves the chair. Therefore, the chair must be controllable by the patient during movement and remain stationary afterward.

Generally, these chairs are equipped with foot brakes, can rotate 360 degrees, and have casters. This feature is particularly suitable for those who need mobility to easily move while seated (even if weighing over 300 pounds) and for caregivers who need to apply the brakes after placing the chair next to the dining table. These nursing home dining chairs appear identical to ordinary dining chairs from the seat upwards, but based on their purpose, they also provide mobility and stability beneath the seat. Choose furniture that is easy to move for flexible space arrangement.

• Removable seat cover

In elderly care settings, such as nursing homes or senior living facilities, it’s common for food spills to occur during meals due to limited mobility and physical challenges. Just like with young children, seniors may unintentionally stain furniture, making cleaning a frequent and time-consuming task for caregivers. Choosing elderly-friendly chairs with removable or washable seat covers can significantly improve hygiene, reduce maintenance time, and enhance the overall care environment. If a chair with a liftable seat cushion design is used, care staff can simply replace the chair cover to easily handle food residues, spilled drinks, or even sudden incontinence incidents. Compared to traditional structures, the liftable seat cushion design is easier to disassemble and clean, saving time and significantly reducing the workload of care staff. At the same time, it allows care resources to focus more on accompanying and caring for the elderly, thereby improving overall service quality.

• Bottom clearance

Many pieces of furniture designed for the elderly, especially chairs and sofas, have a clearance between the bottom and the floor. When elderly people stand up, their feet naturally move backwards and their legs bend. If the bottom of the furniture is too low or there are obstacles such as support structures underneath, they may bump their heels or calves, increasing the risk of falling and injury. Therefore, a reasonable clearance height and barrier-free bottom design not only provide a smoother path for standing up but also significantly enhance the safety and comfort of furniture use.

• Cane storage

Age-friendly design includes a cane storage compartment on the armrest, which can be rotated and retracted when not in use. This design not only avoids the tripping hazard caused by randomly placed canes but also effectively maintains spatial tidiness and furniture aesthetics, truly embodying the perfect combination of functionality and humanisation.

• Handrails

The height and shape of handrails are critical elements in aged care furniture design. The height should allow the elderly to naturally support their bodies when standing up or sitting down, reducing the physical strain. Most handrails feature smooth edges to provide comfortable support for the arms when sitting down, reducing the risk of injury. Additionally, handrails should offer a secure grip to prevent slipping or falling due to unstable grasping. Some products feature built-in armrest holes on the chair back, making it easier and more efficient to move or rearrange chairs, reducing the physical strain on staff and enhancing spatial flexibility.

• Fabric Selection

Elderly individuals have sensitive senses of smell and physical constitutions. If furniture emits odours, prolonged exposure may cause discomfort or even affect health. Eco-friendly fabrics eliminate unpleasant odours from the source, creating a comfortable resting environment. Additionally, considering that elderly individuals may have mobility issues, furniture is more prone to stains from food or beverages. Water-resistant and stain-resistant designs simplify daily cleaning and prevent bacterial growth. International commercial-grade decorative fabric abrasion resistance standards typically require Martindale ≥40,000 cycles (EN ISO 12947) or Wyzenbeek ≥30,000 cycles (ASTM D4966), with stringent environments requiring ≥60,000 cycles. These fabrics are typically made from a blend of synthetic fibres such as polyester and nylon, ensuring strength and durability. In addition to durability, these materials are often treated with liquid-repellent, stain-resistant, and flame-retardant properties. They maintain the aesthetic appeal of the home without compromising quality or functionality.

• Public Area Layout

While dedicated rooms can provide seniors with greater privacy and autonomy, for medium to small-sized nursing homes, achieving the flexibility of dedicated spaces may present challenges due to space and resource constraints. In such cases, flexible spaces can provide residents with care equivalent to that of larger nursing homes while maintaining a warm and comfortable atmosphere. For example, the free combination of single chairs, double sofas, and triple sofas allows for quick adjustments to space functionality based on different social, visiting, or resting needs at various times. Combined with the KD disassemblable structure design, this not only facilitates transportation and quick installation but also significantly reduces logistics and operational costs.

By adopting a unified base frame and modular cushion system, the design ensures consistent style while providing highly adaptable and coordinated furniture solutions for multiple spatial scenarios such as dining areas, rest zones, and guest rooms. In particular, the bench design offers ample resting space while encouraging social interaction among multiple elderly residents, further enhancing overall well-being and spatial efficiency.

Conclusion

Yumeya can meet all of the above requirements for the manufacture of age-friendly design products. As China's first metal wood grain manufacturer with 27 years of experience, we are constantly updating and iterating our technology. We fully understand the stringent requirements for functionality, safety, and comfort in elderly care projects. Whether it's public areas, recreational spaces, or restaurant and guest rooms, we can tailor-make suitable product solutions for you. Want to stand out in a highly competitive market? Yumeya not only provides professional sales and after-sales support but also has a mature dealer policy to help you secure every high-end project and expand into a broader elderly care furniture market. Contact us now!