Senior Living Design: Building an Assisted Living Facility
Senior Living Design: Building a Perfect Assisted Living Facility
The Baby Boomer generation is reaching retirement age, which will significantly increase the need for assisted living facilities in 2030 and beyond.
If you are investing in creating senior living communities, there are some factors you should consider before designing your project.
This article will provide these details as well as some elements that a successful senior living design might include.
The Important Factors in Senior Living Design
As with any commercial or public construction project, the demographic you’ll serve is the most significant factor in your design. Even seniors can be grouped into various demographics, and most senior care facilities are geared toward one of these groups.
The following factors will help determine the parameters of an assisted living facility:
Age Bracket
The age bracket of the seniors you are catering to will be a primary decision-maker in the design of your facility. The level of care your tenants will need will depend on their age, but not necessarily their legal age.
An older person could have much better health and activity levels than a younger person but needs more care for their daily needs.
Will your tenants be active adults capable of independent living or older residents needing a skilled nursing facility?
This could depend on their physical condition, activity levels, social needs, and emotional well-being.
As you can see, the assisted living industry has a broad spectrum.
Activities of Daily Living
The scale of daily activities residents will need help with dictates how the building should be designed. Residents could require assistance bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, medicating, or even walking, moving, or using the bathroom.
Seniors in assisted living facilities can be broken into three main levels of care: low, moderate, and high.
The activities of daily living, or ADL for short, are greatly limited by hearing or sight loss, health problems, physical disabilities, limited mobility, and cognitive impairment.
In cases of greatly limited ADL, more caregivers and assistance will be needed.
Caring for Caregivers
Another element of a well-designed senior living center is the consideration of the staff’s needs as well as the residents.
Staff-Only Spaces
To ensure that those providing care get the TLC they need, they must have spaces to decompress, rest, and rejuvenate. These include staff lounges, a kitchen, and a designated break room.
Classrooms
Staff and nurses need to stay abreast of the newest information and practices to care for the elderly.
Workplace Wellness
Lifting, bending, and reaching in difficult positions can cause the caretakers serious injuries in the worst-case scenario — and discomfort and tiredness in the best-case scenario. To counteract this, ergonomics should be a critical aspect of design.
Infection Prevention
Caretakers put their own health on the line to care for the residents in their facility.
Include a separate staff entrance to keep their personal belongings separate from the rest of the facility. A cleaning and disinfecting area for before and after shifts can minimize the viruses they bring home and what they allow into the community.
Type of Care Facility
Within the senior care industry, there are several different types of facilities to meet the needs of the various levels of care as well as specific disabilities:
Memory Care
These centers are designed to care for those who are suffering from cognitive impairment, such as dementia, Alzheimer's, or other types of memory loss.
Independent Living
These can be apartment complexes or condos for seniors who aren’t ready to give up their independence but want to belong to a community of others in the same phase of life. Many offer various services and programs that can provide aid for their specific set of needs.
Continuing Care Retirement Community
A CCRC is a complex with multiple types of living communities. These can include independent living, assisted living, memory care, and even rehab.
Residents of a CCRC can rest easy knowing that as they age and their needs increase, they can move to another area of the complex that offers the care they need.
Skilled Nursing Facility
There are two types of skilled nursing facilities: rehab and assisted living facilities.
Assisted living is a more permanent home for those needing constant care and help with bathing, feeding, and grooming.
A rehab facility provides temporary care for those who are transitioning from hospitalization, surgery, or serious health problems to their home or assisted living facility.
Cost of Care
The cost of care will play a role when designing a senior care facility. Two aspects of a resident's life will determine whether they are a good fit for your residency.
The first is financial status. Those with limited incomes won’t be able to afford the same facilities as those with higher spending capabilities. When designing your residency, consider who you are catering to: low-income, middle-class, or the wealthy.
The cost of care for your facility will affect the quality of interiors, included amenities, and benefits afforded and expected from your residents. Of course, the cost of skilled nursing facilities varies from state to state, but there is an even bigger difference in cost between one type of senior facility and another.
Another aspect that will affect the total price is the level of care you provide:
Level 1 means a low level of supervision is required, which should be reflected in the price.
Level 2 facilities provide moderate care for their residents.
Level 3, the most expensive level of care, provides seniors with 24/7 assistance and aids in practically all their daily activities.
Essential Elements of Senior Housing
We’ve covered the important aspects that will affect the design of your assisted living facility. Now, let’s discuss the elements that should be included in that design.
Health
The health of your residents is understandably of great concern to you, but how does design help in this endeavor?
Air Quality
You can ensure good air quality in your facility by installing electrostatic air filters or an air purification system. It is also wise to create a natural airflow when possible. Window and door placement, as well as strategically placed ventilation, can help.
Mental Well-Being
Smaller-scale social interactions provide a deeper connection than a large crowd. These deeper conversations can increase the level of contentment in your residents.
Your facility should be designed to facilitate these meaningful interactions easily and comfortably. This might require little corners or sitting areas that invite your residents to sit and talk or play a game.
Soothing color palettes are an excellent choice for assisted living facilities because they keep the residents calm. Indoor/outdoor spaces and artwork that engages the senses can also provide a peaceful and soothing atmosphere.
Activity Levels
Staying active can improve a person’s physical and emotional health. That’s why designing your facility to keep your residents active is a good idea.
Facilities with a low level of care can benefit from a gym or outdoor walking areas. Those with a high level of care can create an active lifestyle by having longer than normal hallways for residents to walk through.
Safety
Since the pandemic changed how we view the world, new levels of cleanliness and infection control are encouraged — and legally required.
Besides janitorial and sterile nursing practices, infection control and general safety can be improved through interior design. The choice of flooring for senior care facilities should consider the aging eye and tripping hazards.
Durable furnishings that won’t easily break or fall over can protect unstable residents. Non-porous, antimicrobial surfaces that can withstand harsh chemical cleanings will decrease the germs and harmful particles present.
Controlled entrances not only keep residents in but also keep unsafe visitors out and should be a standard for any senior care facility.
One element of safety that cannot be overlooked is accessibility, which is a legal requirement to be open for business.
Learn more: Enhancing Accessibility With ADA Requirements in Commercial Construction
Quality of Life
Improving the quality of life your residents experience should be a top priority for any care facility.
In design, this means creating spaces that foster engagement opportunities and a full and active lifestyle.
The landscaping and view from their windows are also design elements that can improve their quality of life. Sensory and functional aspects added to the interior design can add some interest to their day.
Top Trends in Senior Care Building Design
The cold, hospital-like feel you used to get is becoming less common. Trends in senior care building design are gravitating toward more warmth and vibrance.
Biophilic Design
Adding biophilic elements to the design of a senior living center has become very popular because of the evidence of its beneficial effects on health and disposition:
Natural light can be utilized with proper window placement.
Environmental elements, like green walls and water features, are another popular way to include biophilia in architecture.
Shapes and patterns that mimic nature, like botanical prints, curves, and muted colors found in nature (browns, greens, and greys), are often included in interiors.
The use of natural materials like wood, stone, and textiles is on the rise.
Connected Communities
Creating opportunities for residents to connect with loved ones has emerged with the technological possibilities now available:
Providing WiFi and iPads with Zoom is standard in today's senior living communities.
Common areas for internal companionship, such as a game room, theatre, and formal or informal dining room, can help the residents start friendships.
Telehealth visits also make it easier for seniors to get the healthcare they need without having to leave the building.
Hospitality-Based Design
Another growing trend in senior living is a residency that is more like a resort than a home. Apartment-style rooms with separate communal and sleeping areas make the experience more luxurious. Subdivided visitation spaces provide residents with the opportunity to host guests in privacy.
Wellness Lifestyle
Assisted living facilities are gearing more toward a holistic view of care. Instead of focusing on just filling the resident's immediate needs, they provide a more well-rounded lifestyle.
Inviting outdoor social areas result in the enjoyment of more sunshine and fresh air. Physical activity is promoted through floorplans encouraging movement and regular group classes like dancing or light aerobics. Mental stimulation is also key to wellness.
Recap
There is a great need for thoughtful design in senior living spaces to prioritize their unique needs and to provide them with dignity as they age.
When you instill compassion and empathy into the design of your senior care facility, you are improving its long-term success. The factors and elements in this article are good examples of how to do this.
You need a professional and experienced firm for a well-designed assisted living facility. Contact ZP Architects & Engineers for your design needs.
