Senior Living Design
Alzheimer’s Disease and accommodating those facing the illness is a huge challenge. With an increase of those stricken rising to an expected 13.8 million by 2050, designing facilities that can house these individuals has become a priority in the architecture field. Accounting for 50-80% of dementia cases, Alzheimer’s is the most common form of the disease, and requires different design features than even that of a regular elder care facility. St. Catherine’s Village‘s Master Plan includes a memory care facility, an effort led by Project Architect Jessica Warren.
In order to prepare for the design of Campbell Cove, and to ensure she was seeing the project through the end user’s eyes, Jessica participated in a training that provided her with a small taste of what it’s like to function with dementia. Already an expert in senior living design. Jessica’s transformative experience has allowed her to view this project through an enhanced lens. This blog post is her account of the experience.
Being tasked with designing a home for people suffering from dementia is a huge responsibility. It requires a vastly different perspective than the kind used to design a traditional elder care facility. With that in mind, I asked the St. Catherine’s Director of Nursing and Facility Director if they could help me see and feel the world through their residents’ eyes. The training I was led through used the same exercises that St. Catherine’s employees who interact with residents living with dementia experience. My sensory systems – from sight to touch – would all be affected by the different scenarios I was presented with.
Before I faced any task-oriented challenges, I needed some accessories intended to mimic the physical impairments faced by residents living with dementia. I put on gloves with unpopped popcorn kernels in the fingertips, my pointer and middle fingers were taped together on one hand and my ring finger and pinky finger were taped together on the other hand, and finally my shoes were taken off and filled with more unpopped popcorn kernels and put back on my feet. To top off the look, goggles with large black dots on them were placed on my head.
Once I was ready for action, my guide gave me five tasks to perform. I was told to fold some towels, write a letter to a family member that was at least three sentences, fold the letter and place it into an envelope, put on a sweater, and set the table for dinner. I repeated the instructions back to my guide and she led me into the room where I was to perform the tasks.
I was immediately overwhelmed upon entering the room – there was a strobe light and recording of bits and pieces of conversations that didn’t make any sense. My guide closed the door and I got to work on my set of instructions. I found the towels, folded five of them, and started looking for a pen and paper. Once I found them I realized how challenging writing was going to be with pieces of nonsensical conversations in my head and hands that I couldn’t manipulate in the way I was used to. I finally finished it and got it into an envelope. I fumbled around, looking for a sweater. It took me awhile but I located a closet, found a sweater and then struggled to put it on. After my sweater was on, I set the table and immediately needed a break. The strobe light and confusing noise had to go.
The first question the guide asked me once she had turned off the noise and strobe light was, “Why didn’t you turn on a light?” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done something to help myself that was as simple as turning a light on, and then it dawned on me: being so overwhelmed by what’s happening around you that you can’t remember the simple tasks we do without a thought is exactly what these residents face every single day. Limited sight and hearing abilities create such chaos that actions like flipping on a light switch, something we consider to be second nature, become a challenge.
Noise and light sensitivity, and a desire to make them more familiar and less “institutional,” is only part of what I took from this exercise. In fact, we’ve already incorporated some of what we learned into the design of the facility. Electrical engineer Ron Fender and I attended lighting seminars for seniors; the information we gathered helped us to design a lighting system that would reduce glare and make it easier for residents to do things like match their clothes. Most lighting codes are written for young eyes, not older eyes – an incredibly important factor to consider when designing for seniors. Additionally, knowing that these residents have a tendency to wander, we designed the facility to be in a circle with no dead ends. This design eliminates the possibility of residents getting stuck or lost.
Despite the amount of knowledge and perspective I gained, there’s still a tremendous amount to learn. The St. Catherine’s team, including the nursing staff, is all part of the conversation to ensure we create a facility that improves the quality of life for its inhabitants and the facility’s team of caregivers. We’re proud to be involved with a team that is so sensitive to the needs of its residents, and CDFL looks forward to continuing to provide thoughtfully and intentionally designed spaces with them.