By Dra Maria Alice features@algarveresident.com
Dra Maria Alice is a Consultant in General and Family Medicine and Director of the Luzdoc International Medical Service.
World Health Day was celebrated on April 7 this year. The theme, The influence of architecture and urbanism in health, could not be more pertinent.
The habitation space is a very important health factor, both to promote it or to destroy it.
It is worth giving serious consideration to the fact that we can use our decision-making capacity to improve these conditions. Most of the time the choice is ours.
There are small details that really make the difference and many of them are really easy to achieve. One just needs to think about it.
Mind the step
Do you remember the Metro in London? âMind the gapâ is indeed a very remarkable, unforgettable phrase. But, believe me, there are unfortunately many houses that should have a loudspeaker repeating, ad nauseum, âMind the stepâ.
As a doctor, I have been inside lots of these houses: one step to go down, three steps going up, two going to the other side and another one coming back, steps to the fireplace, to the kitchen, to the garden, steps and more steps.
Who on earth decided to invent the architectural mania that steps are important to make pretty houses and create different spaces in a house?
If we add to the steps the monumentally twisted and steep staircases that most of the time go up or down into the bedrooms and the doors that might all be of an acceptable width but the bathroom door, that is a different matter⊠it is, as a rule, much, much narrower.
Nobody was ever capable of explaining to me the reason why this happens. It is a well kept secret.
Health hazards
Once upon a time there was a nice healthy couple (whose age is not relevant as you can be healthy or unhealthy at any age) who decided to build a house.
They do not have any disability, they are strong, mobile, they are âfineâ, they can live with any physically challenging architectural madness, they can endure any innovative, interesting, complicated design.
But interesting and innovative is not synonymous with complicated, and health does not come with a life-long guarantee.
One can be fine now and not fine at all the next moment; in the blink of an eye the award winning house turns into⊠a trap, a place that you cannot use, where you cannot live and where you will have extreme difficulty in getting out of.
Anything as simple as a broken leg or as bad as a stroke will turn the house into a nightmare⊠for you, your family and the ambulance peopleâŠ
The KISS principle in building a house
Do you know what KISS stands for?
Keep It Simple⊠Stupid!
Why does a house need to have a complicated architecture to be âniceâ?
Building someoneâs own special âcastleâ is an intense personal journey, considering with a profound respect the lifestyle, needs, dreams and desires of the future residents in order to evolve into home designs that are liveable and functional.
A house has to openly flow, have plenty of natural light, have this and that and even more, all the wonderful characteristics one desires⊠but for people living in it to fully enjoy it, it needs to always offer physical comfort for the residents – it must have no architectural barriers, for the present and for the future.
So what is an architectural barrier? Any structure or design feature that makes a building inaccessible to a person with a disability.
Do not forget that it is âsimpleâ to change, at any moment in time from being able to being disabled.
Sunshine is never permanent. The clever thing to do is to build âfor a rainy dayâ, as well.
It is important to have architectural designs that are guaranteed to say âThis is Homeâ for better or for worseâŠ
Best health wishes,
Maria Alice
Consultant in General and Family Medicine
Director â Luzdoc International Medical Service
To get in contact with Dra Maria Alice, please call Luzdoc at 282 780 700 or email info@luzdoc.com Alternatively, visit the LuzDoc website by clicking the link on the right of this page
