Insights & Solutions

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.

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 innovative design can be achieved at the same or similar cost, how design can result in a well-regarded community landmark, and how community-based care improves patient use and compliance with regimens.

Learn about: how facility design facilitates population health goals for a community health clinic, how pod-based layout promotes staff interaction, collaboration, and efficiency, and how the ‘group visit’ room supports patient engagement, education, and continuity of care.

Learn about: how talking rooms can complement consultation-based care, how workstation design can help balance a team-based care approach and staff retention efforts, and how design can maximize the accessibility to transportation and community amenities.

Learn about: How UMCPP accommodates the unique needs of senior citizens through a special ED unit, design features that were included to help older patients and their families better navigate the space, and the hospital’s acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit, and why it is configured to transition senior ED patients for an inpatient stay in the most supportive environment.

This tool is meant to support a universal design approach to environments for aging populations. 

Aging often involves a multitude of changing needs and priorities. However, there are human needs and desires that remain constant throughout the life course. Design strategies for aging must not only address basic physiological and safety needs, but attend to higher-level human needs as well. The universal design approach is being adopted by many forward-thinking designers who aim to support equitable, flexible, and accessible environments for all users.

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.

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.