Therapeutic lighting design for the elderly: a review

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Gerontology
• Architectural Lighting Design

Background:

• Aging leads to reduced visual performance, necessitating specialized building design for elderly users.
• Lighting is a key environmental factor influencing the physical and psychological health of older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the physical and psychological impacts of lighting on the elderly.
• To identify gaps between evidence-based research and current lighting design standards for seniors.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of published research on light's effects on the elderly.
• Evaluation of professional lighting design standards and guidelines.

Main Results:

• Robust evidence supports lighting's role in elderly visual performance and health.
• Current design standards primarily focus on illumination levels, neglecting vertical lighting and luminance.
• Growing evidence highlights therapeutic benefits of light for psychological disorders in the elderly, yet integration into design is lacking.

Conclusions:

• Existing design guidelines inadequately incorporate photobiological impacts and therapeutic lighting for the elderly.
• Implementation of therapeutic lighting faces challenges due to insufficient research and robust findings.
• Collaboration between designers and physicians is needed for customized, disease-specific lighting solutions.