Biophilic Design Strategies in Long-Term Residential Care Environments for Persons with Dementia

Abstract

The number of persons living with dementia and related cognitive disorders is predicted to increase dramatically in the coming years. As a consequence, the need is increasing for appropriately designed long-term care (LTC) environments and design guidelines for these settings. This investigation presents the findings of a broad literature review on biophilic design and its application to a set of LTC architectural case studies selected for the degree to which each variously expresses key attributes of a set of ten biophilic patterns particularly rooted in the day to day experience of the aged in these care settings: visual connections with nature, non-visual connection with nature, non-rhythmic sensory stimuli, thermal and airflow variability, presence of water, dynamic and diffused light, complexity and order, prospect, refuge, and mystery. The three methodological aims are to conduct an in-depth literature review, to distill the aforementioned subset of biophilic patterns with respect to how the aged experience their built surroundings, and third, to examine these in light of their various expression in recently built state-of-the art LTC settings for persons with dementia and related cognitive disorders. Residents’ engagement with and proximity to nature and landscape, and transactions with biophilia-inspired artifacts was the principal focus. The case studies are further examined in relation to the planning and design of LTC environments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future biophilic-inspired directions for evidence-based research and design for persons with dementia and related cognitive disorders are discussed.