Contribution Details 235 Submission Type / Conference Track: Oral Presentation Educational Environment Improvement for Students who need Medical Care in Special Schools, Japan Maiko Sugawara 1 , Takaaki Suzuki 2 Organization(s): 1: Toyo University, Japan; 2: Central Nippon Highway Engineering Tokyo Company Limited., Japan Submitted by: Dr. Maiko Sugawara (Toyo University, JP), ID: 1094 Keywords: special schools, profound and multiple disabilities, medical care, educational environment, school facility planning Abstract The rate of neonatal and infant mortality in Japan is one of the lowest in the world. Thanks to the progress of medical science and technology, more infants, who couldn’t survive after difficult deliveries in the past, can now be saved. However, in some cases after birth, daily medical care is required throughout their lives. In fact, the total number of kindergarten children and primary and secondary school students, who need daily medical care, has been increasing from 5,901 in 2006 to 8,116 in 2016, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT). In spite of this increase in the number of those requiring medical care, the facility improvement guidelines of special schools created by MEXT note few aspects regarding medical care. In addition, the architectural research of special schools in Japan is also insufficient. This paper focuses on the educational environment for students who need daily medical care in special schools and identifies the points of school planning for the future. Interviews with the principals and staff members of 7 special schools with a physical disability department in Japan were conducted between 2013 to 2015. These schools were selected due to the number of students with medical care needs and the number of nurses, the construction year and the scale of the buildings. After the interviews, the school buildings and the gyms were inspected, and explanations were given by the principles or staff regarding environmental management of the schools. From these surveys, the key points to improve the educational environment were identified, as follows: (1) In classrooms, teachers had a tendency to arrange corners for medical care and set various equipment up such as 1) humidifiers and air cleaners to prevent infections from spreading, 2) pots that contained hot water to wash medical care products, 3) carts to put commodities on such as suction equipment, general educational materials and self- supporting tools. Therefore, a major problem was the limited amount of space for activities in classrooms, which was much more limited than expected. (2) Medical care rooms are required to be located near classrooms and infirmaries so that the nurses can give medical care to the children promptly and efficiently. In addition, medical care rooms must have adequate space for vital checks and medical care for multiple students. (3) Water supply is an absolute necessity in classrooms and lunch rooms in order to wash students’ hands and medical equipment. (4) For tube fed students, consideration of adequate space needs to be required so that the students can spend lunch with their friends from an educational/social point of view. (5) For catheterization, there needs to be an appropriate number of special booths and space, a required bed, sufficient lighting and a layout for the ease of supporting students. (6) For tracheotomy and the suctioning of phlegm, air conditioners, humidifiers and air cleaners are vital to prevent the spread of infections. These insights and the awareness should be taken into school planning and refurbishing. Page 1 of 1 25th IAPS Conference - ConfTool Pro Printout 2017/12/25 https://www.conftool.com/iaps2018/index.php?page=showAbstract&print=yes&do...