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JARKEN Honored as Leading Social Responsibility Enterprise, Winning Award for CSR Excellence in ASEAN
Ms. Siritorn Sitthiwattanawong, Director of Marketing, JARKEN Group of Companies, and Thira Woratanarat, MD, Research and Development Office for Health Research Translation of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, and the Orthopedic Unit of the Faculty of Medicine of Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, received the Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship - Southeast Asia 2014 award in Health Promotion for their ‘Architectural Therapy’ program on 21 June in Singapore. The ceremony, hosted by Enterprise Asia, a non-profit organization that focuses on fostering social benefits, honored only six Thai organizations this year. Other awardees included PTT Global Chemical Co., Ltd.; Central Pattana Co., Ltd.; and Tri Petch Isuzu Co., Ltd. These distinguished firms were chosen from over 200 companies in 11 countries for their conscious efforts and responsibility towards outstanding CSR practices related to social and environmental causes.
“Architectural Therapy is the practical development and application of architectural knowledge in conjunction with medical care for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients and the elderly. It allows such patients to live in a residential complex with architecture that makes everyday living easier, more convenient and safer. Also, it helps relieve the symptoms of patients who are recovering from illnesses, both physically and mentally, as well as lighten the burden of care for their relatives,” explained Ms. Siritorn.
“This new holistic design concept has never occurred in Thailand before. We are witnessing the continuous growth in the number of patients and the elderly each day. When there is an illness that must be treated, whether it is a chronic disease with complications, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease; or an accident requiring time to recover, the use of medicine alone may not be enough. A residential treatment facility may be required, which is one of four factors that can foster recovery,” said Ms. Siritorn. “The height of the stairs or the inappropriate placement of furniture can slow the recovery for patients, such as those who had hip surgery or those with pain in various areas. They may even aggravate patients’ conditions, which is a difficult situation for doctors or nurses. Regardless of whether the care is provided by a private or state hospital, the development of an optimal residential environment for each patient requires the specialization of an architect, interior designer or engineer for project consultation and guidance. At the same time, it would be difficult for an architect or interior designer to undertake the design of the facility without the advice of medical professionals in each relevant field. We thus believe that this project will create a strong new knowledge base among both of our professions, as well as raise social awareness about and improve the quality of life of the infirm and elderly.”
