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Insights & Solutions

Tool
March 2020 Tool

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. 

Design Strategies
March 2020 Design Strategies

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 living spaces. Devising goals that target single symptoms and objectives is not always practical, however, because changes associated with aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias tend to appear in “clusters” rather than in isolation. The design-based evidence associated with designing supportive memory care settings results in 12 programmatic design strategies.

Executive Summary
February 2020 Executive Summary

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.

Webinar
July 2018 Webinar

This webinar will amply the importance of local, meaningful and indigenous artwork that contributes to the quality of life for residents and their care-giving staff.  Using a case study from rural Nebraska, this dialogue will capture the perspectives of the photographer, the architect and the provider as they share the impact that local art is having on residents and their engagement. 

Interview
April 2017 Interview

Learn about: the importance of using durable products and finishes in senior living environments, the key to designing a functional and effective senior living environment, and how manufacturers, designers, and industry leaders collaborate to improve the lives of the aging population.

Lessons Learned
April 2017 Lessons Learned

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

Project Brief
February 2017 Project Brief

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.

Issue Brief
November 2016 Issue Brief

As part of the impact of aging toolbox, in this issue brief you will learn about the current state of aging and associated health conditions, the alignment between universal design and sustainable design strategies inspired by environments for aging, and universal design models that enable flexible and adaptable spaces to support aging needs and human needs.

Project Brief
November 2016 Project Brief

Learn about: the homelike model for resident care Riverside Assisted Living Facility Administration wanted to apply, the full-scale mock-ups of the proposed living spaces that launched the project, and the ‘neighborhood’ concept that enables greater resident independence as well as safety.

Executive Summary
March 2015 Executive Summary

Learn about: cognitive changes that occur with normal aging, the definition and stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and design interventions that can reduce negative behaviors characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.