Effectiveness of Lighting Changes in Dementia Care Services

Running head: DEMENTIA CARE
Assessment Details
SNPG 955 Dementia Care across Settings
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DEMENTIA CARE
Introduction- The term dementia is an umbrella term that refers to a broad category of
mental diseases causing a long-term effect in the form of gradual decreasing the ability to
remember and think, thereby affecting daily functioning. Major symptoms in addition to the ones
stated above include language difficulties, emotional problems, and decrease in motivation
(Richardson et al. 2013). Thus, caring for people with dementia often encompasses several
aspects of formal and informal care. While formal care practices include support from friends,
family, and community members, informal care often refers to making architectural changes in
the place where the patients live. This helps in creating an environment that supports the overall
wellbeing and functioning of the elderly patients (McLaren, LaMantia and Callahan 2013).
Caring for dementia patients poses several challenges due to the fact that the patients most often
lose the power to speak or comprehend. Care approaches are therefore adopted in a way that
addresses the difficulties faced by the patients. According to research evidences, proportion of
older people suffering from dementia, living in households reduces with age. Furthermore,
estimates also indicate that approximately 81.1 million people will require appropriate residential
care facilities for dementia, by the year 2040 (Prince et al. 2013). Thus, bringing about changes
in the environmental design is gaining increasing attention as an essential aspect of care while
treating people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Designers and facility
administrators are now considering the long-term benefits of formulating design principles for
developing a dementia free environment. This part of the assignment will critically evaluate
effectiveness of changes in lighting as a part of dementia care services.
Literature review- Guidelines that determine design changes for a dementia free
environment typically discuss about several theories and hypothesis on the effectiveness of
physical environment modifications and spatial organization in promoting the overall wellbeing

2DEMENTIA CARE
and quality of life of dementia patients. Most common modifications have been identified as
eliminating unnecessary clutters, removing paging systems, soft colours, creating familiar
spaces, reducing risks and eliminating noise (Schrijvers et al. 2012). Similar findings have been
elucidated by other researchers that suggested that residential facilities should be smaller in size,
with controlled stimuli related to noise and enhanced visual access. Dementia patients need to
visualize their environment for making an appropriate sense of their surroundings, to utilise most
of their remaining capabilities. According to research evidences, effective lighting has been
found to facilitate individuals with dementia to observe the places where they want to go for
identifying rooms, spaces, equipments and symbols (Fleming, Kelly and Stillfried 2015).
Furthermore, light modifications have been found to help them easily recognize faces of their
acquaintances, carers and physicians. It also facilitates easy identification of gestures and body
languages. Lighting modifications are responsible for increasing detailed contrast and apparent
size of all objects (Marquardt, Bueter and Motzek 2014). Poor lightning or light positioned at
inappropriate places often result in glare and reflect off polished floor surfaces or walls, thereby
creating difficulties for dementia patients to move on their own. Such lack of illumination or
glares is often considered dangerous for dementia patients since it increases risks of fall related
injuries.
According to research evidences, light therapy is considered as a promising non-
pharmacological method for improving symptoms associated with dementia. Evidences suggest
that the human circadian rhythm shows maximum sensitivity to short wavelength blue light for
therapeutic purposes. Tailored lighting was found to create significant improvements in
agitation, depression and sleep patterns among dementia patients (Figueiro et al. 2014). Effective
light intervention was also found to significantly bring about improvements in circadian