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The design of caring environments and the quality of life of older people

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2002

SARAH BARNES
Affiliation:
School of Architecture, University of Sheffield.

Abstract

There has been little systematic research into the design of care environments for older people. This article reviews empirical studies from both the architectural and the psychological literature. It outlines the instruments that are currently available for measuring both the environment and the quality of life of older people, and it summarises the evidence on the layout of buildings, the sensory environment and the privacy of residents. The conclusion is drawn that all evidence-based design must be a compromise or dynamic and, as demands on the caring environment change over time, this compromise must be re-visited in the form of post-occupancy evaluation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2002 Cambridge University Press

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