The future of healthcare environment design was a hot topic at the 38th annual NeoCon World's Trade Fair, June 12-14 at Chicago's Merchandise Mart.

The future of healthcare environment design was a hot topic at the 38th annual NeoCon World's Trade Fair, June 12-14 at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Senior care facilities were a popular issue at seminars focused on design solutions.

"The future isn't what it used to be," Mark Patterson explained to guests at the seminar "Designing for Senior Populations in an Acute Healthcare Environment." As America's already sizable elderly population dramatically increases, he said, the future of senior healthcare environments is growing into a more compelling issue.

Patterson, a principal of SmithGroup, Phoenix, said design needs to enhance the senior citizen patient experience. As staff shortages, funding concerns, medical malpractices and infection control remain national healthcare issues, designing for the elderly is a growing market.

"The average age in the U.S. is slowly trending upward," Patterson said. "But reality is that the largest population in our nation's history is approaching their senior years." Between 2010 and 2030, the number of people 85 and older is expected to double to more than eight million. Designers project that baby boomers will expect higher standards of service and opportunities for alternative-medicine healing therapies.

Patterson said issues of frailty and mobility are a top concern of designers, because falls are a major cause of disability and death for senior facility residents. Elderly patients are much more confident on carpet rather than vinyl, so it becomes necessary to eliminate loose rugs and transition carpet edges neatly. It is also necessary to design for slip resistance by reducing clutter in facility corridors and providing adequate lighting at nighttime.

Visual impairment is another design concern. The elderly eye requires more light than a younger eye, and takes longer to adjust from light to dark, Patterson said. The eye's response to color also weakens as color intensity diminishes, causing pastels to look gray. For some, it becomes difficult to distinguish where the floor ends and the wall begins. Patterson suggested larger and brightly illuminated signs in hallways and corridors, and the use of high-contrast colors to differentiate between floors and walls. To deal with hearing impairments, Patterson suggested minimizing hard surfaces in facilities and planning spaces to minimize background noises.

Also at NeoCon, speaker Eric Borden, vice president of Ambiance Lighting, addressed the challenge of properly lighting home and work areas for the elderly eye by establishing uniform light levels and reducing glare. In "Design Innovations for Aging and Alzheimer's," Elizabeth Brawley, president of Design Concepts Unlimited, and Jane Rohde of JSR Associates Inc. focused on the design of environments that promote senior independence and increase quality of life.

Patterson stressed the importance of being sensitive to the dignity of the residents in these facilities. "Focus not only on the specific health needs of the ill elderly patient, but also on their physical, emotional, spiritual and cognitive functioning levels," Patterson said.

"Aging is an ongoing, lifelong process that is unique to each individual. Quality of life has come to mean much more than just physical health or the absence of disease. It includes a general sense of happiness and satisfaction, meaningful activity, and the ability to express culture, values, beliefs and relationships."