Optimisation strategies for indoor acoustic environment in Elderly apartments from a multi-sensory perspective

As ageing intensifies, the perceptual evaluation of the elderly is increasingly valued. Research has shown that appropriate soundscape can have a positive effect on environmental perception, but current soundscape design in elderly apartments pays more attention to auditory perception and often neglects the comprehensive impact of multi-sensory. This study was conducted in two elderly apartments in Wuxi and Jinan through physical environment measurements, comparative experiments and questionnaires. The study tested the indoor physical environment and collected the elderly's perceptual evaluation of each physical environment index. Combined with acoustic and olfactory environment comparative experiments, the study proposed strategies for optimising indoor acoustic and olfactory environment to meet the comfort level of the Chinese elderly. The participants were aged 70-90 years old and about 100 questionnaires were obtained. The results of the study found that the acoustic environment of elderly apartments, which is mainly based on natural sound, better enhances elderly's perceptual evaluation of the indoor environment; there are differences in the physical environment needs of older people for different functional rooms.; comfortable odours significantly enhance elderly's overall evaluation of the environment; and different physical environment indexes interact with elderly's perception.