Insights & Solutions

Understanding the personal abilities and unique challenges faced by aging individuals, especially those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, better equips design teams to create supportive care and living spaces. Changes that can be credited to dementia are noticeably different from the changes typical of normal aging, but both can occur at the same time. 

Learn about: the personal abilities and unique challenges faced by aging individuals, including those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, how thoughtful design can reduce stress associated with declining physical abilities, memory loss, and care provision.

The following are compiled from research literature, case studies, interviews, and other materials to provide an overview on the topic of aging populations.  

Learn about: how the physical setting of a special care unit for dementia patients can affect their behavior in both positive and negative ways, design features that may help engage residents and foster socialization, and strategic choices of flooring surfaces, flooring transitions, and wayfinding that can help create a safer environment.

Learn about: the need for current healthcare systems to accommodate a growing number of older Americans, how healthcare needs change as people age, design features that can help older patients feel more at home in an inpatient setting, and how home design can contribute to personal health and satisfaction over time.

Lorenz, S. G. & Dreher, H. M. (2011). Hospital room design and health outcomes of the aging adult. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 4(2), 23-35.

Learn about: definitions of psychological concepts related to the designed environment, functions of personalization, privacy, wayfinding, and access to nature in meeting psychological needs, and design implications of personalization, privacy, wayfinding, and access to nature.

Learn about: activities necessary for independent living, the range of residential options for older adults, and the culture change movement that is transforming care environments for the aging population.

Learn about: common age-related changes in physical abilities, frequently occurring age-related sensory changes, and supportive adjustments to the physical environment that compensate for functional loss.