Design Innovations for Aging and Alzheimer's

As our understanding of aging and Alzheimer's, and the cultural changes related to these phenomena, grows so do the implications for interior design. Focus on recent innovations in care environments for the aging with a resource dedicated to this topic. This comprehensive book features:

• Coverage of the emerging building types of adult day care and hospice and the increased use of gardens and outdoor space in environments for the aging.
• Material on sustainable design and environmentally friendly building products.
• Design solutions that extend beyond assisted-living facilities and nursing homes as they can be easily adapted for residential use.
• Photographs, line drawings, and a 16-page color insert that bring the material to life.

Order your copy of this book today.

PREFACE xiii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix

SECTION I Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease:

Implications for Design 1

CHAPTER 1. Aging in the Twenty-First Century: Aging and Age-Related Changes 3

Demographics

Global Aging

Aging, Diversity, and Health

Age-Related Changes

Arthritis

Hypertension

Hearing Impairment

Vision Impairment

Depression

Diabetes

Osteoporosis

Stroke

Exercise and Better Nutrition

CHAPTER 2. Alzheimer’s Disease 17

Memory Loss and Normal Aging

What Is Dementia?

What Is Alzheimer’s Disease?

The Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease

What We Know About Alzheimer’s Disease

What Causes Alzheimer’s?

Mild Cognitive Impairment

The Changing Face of Alzheimer’s Lifestyle

The Nun Study

CHAPTER 3. Environment as Treatment 27

Alzheimer’s Disease Can Be Treated

Naturally Mapped Physical Environments

Therapeutic Activities and Programming Habilitation Therapy

Design Professionals Can Have a Great Impact

SECTION II Good Design for Living— at Any Age 37

CHAPTER 4. Aging Vision and Health 39

Light and Vision

Age-Related Eye Disease

Light and Health

Circadian Rhythms

Light Received Through the Eyes

Sunshine Is a Mood Enhancer

Sleep Disruption

Light Absorbed Through the Skin

Pain Relief

Research and the Circadian System

CHAPTER 5. Lighting and Daylighting 55

Daylighting

Interior Lighting

Strategies for Energy-Efficient Lighting and Daylighting

Lighting Terminology Made Simple

CHAPTER 6. Hearing Loss and Sound Solutions 77

Strategies for Sound Design

Planning

Acoustic Enhancement

Assistive Listening Devices

Group Listening Systems

Create the Best Possible Environment

Lighting, Light Sensitivity, and Hearing Loss

CHAPTER 7. Mobility, Exercise, and Independence 95

Falls

Interventions: What Do We Do About It?

Assessment

CHAPTER 8. Color, Finishes, and Fabric 113

Color

Effective Color Contrast

Color Solutions

Environmental Responsibility and Good Health

Wallcovering

Fabric for Healthcare

CHAPTER 9. Floorcovering 127

Choosing Floorcovering to Support Quality of Life

How Do You Choose the Right Floorcovering for a

Healthcare Environment?

CHAPTER 10. Sustainability and Green Design 141

The Importance of Certification

SECTION III Culture Change:Creating Home and Community 145

CHAPTER 11. What Is Culture Change? 147

Why Change?

Finding a Way Back Home

Culture Change Makes a Difference

Culture Changing Outcomes

National Models of Culture Change

CHAPTER 12. Hearth and Home: Gathering Spaces 165

Building Configuration

Life and Design Are Changing

The “Heart of the Home”: Living Rooms, Great Rooms, and Dens

Country or Farm Kitchens

CHAPTER 13. Private Spaces: Resident Bedrooms, Bathrooms, and Bathing Environments 181

Resident Bedrooms

Bathrooms

Bathe Suites and Bathing Environments

CHAPTER 14. Social Living Spaces 205

Staying Socially Connected Social Activity

Sacred Spaces: Religion and Spirituality

Wayfinding

SECTION IV Innovative Care Models 221

CHAPTER 15. The Green House 223

Warm, Smart, and Green

Smarter Care Delivery

Green and Connected

CHAPTER 16. Adult Day Care 233

What Is Adult Day Care?

The Physical Day Care Setting

CHAPTER 17. The Planetree Model 249

Ten Elements of Patient-Centered Care

The Planetree Alliance

CHAPTER 18. Hospice: End-of-Life Care 263

What Is Hospice?

Care and Comfort

How Hospice Works

Alzheimer’s End-of-Life Care

Palliative Care—A Better End of Life

Hospice: End-of-Life Care

The Physical Environment for End-of-Life Care

A Celebration of Life

SECTION V Gardens and Outdoor Spaces 273

CHAPTER 19. Creating Gardens and Outside Environments 275

Designing Gardens

The Porch

Here’s the Garden—Where Are the People?

Safety and Security

Glare Control

Activity Gets People into the Garden

Simple Pleasures and Sensory Stimulation

Nature’s Chirping Chorus

Horticultural Therapy

Accommodating the Need for Privacy

Indoor Atriums and Gardens: Bringing the Outside

Environment Inside

The Alzheimer’s Memory Gardens

SECTION VI What Does Success Look Like? 297

CHAPTER 20. What Does Success Look Like and How Will You Know? 299

First Impressions Count

Hands-on Learning

Teamwork Pays

Evidence-Based Design

Pebble Project Initiative

Post-occupancy Evaluation

Life-Enhancing Environmental Design—We’ve Come a Long Way

REFERENCES 309

RESOURCES 327

INDEX 341

ELIZABETH C. BRAWLEY, IIDA, AAHID, is President of Design Concepts Unlimited, a San Francisco-based firm that specializes in designing living environments for older people and settings for Alzheimer's special care. She is a past member of the national board of directors for the Alzheimer's Association and has gained international recognition as an expert and industry leader in the area of environmental design for aging. She is the author of Designing for Alzheimer's Disease: Strategies for Creating Better Care Environments (Wiley), which was awarded the Joel Polsky Prize by the American Society of Interior Designers in recognition of her outstanding contribution in the area of research in environment and Alzheimer's disease. "Betsy Brawley's book is full of new insights, research outcomes, and design models. A must-read for anyone dealing with the impact of environment on older people—it belongs in every designer's bookcase."
—Victor Regnier, FAIA Professor of Architecture and Gerontology University of Southern California author of Design for Assisted Living (Wiley)

"Betsy Brawley offers practical, cost-conscious yet aesthetic alternatives to the toughest issues in design for residential and group activity environments. Families, architects, design professionals, and health care professionals have much to learn from her inspired multidimensional approaches."
—Lisa P. Gwyther, MSW, LCSW

Education Director Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Duke University Medical Center

We have learned much in the past decade about designing supportive care environments for aging. Design Innovations for Aging and Alzheimer's is a detailed guide for a broad range of design issues essential to maintaining independence and functional abilities, maximizing mobility, staying socially connected, and encouraging good health. It features:

• More than 200 photographs, plus a full-color insert
• The latest information on sustainable design and environmentally friendly building products
• Practical design solutions that are easily adapted for residential use
• In-depth strategies for lighting, daylighting, color, fabrics, floor covering, acoustics, wayfinding, furnishings, new technologies, and more
• Extensive information on how cultural changes are humanizing long-term care as well as adult day care, Planetree, the Green House Project, and hospice care
• Specific design suggestions for designing therapeutic gardens and outside environments for maximum pleasure and use