Control of Environmental Lighting and Its Effects on Behaviors of the Alzheimer's Type

Abstract

The study investigates environmental lighting interventions designed to control the natural daylight effects of the setting sun and resultant behavior change. The purpose of this study was to determine if the frequency of disruptive behaviors of the Alzheimer's type that are defined across the literature to include wandering, anxiousness, combativeness, negative verbalizations, pilfering/hoarding, inappropriate sexual behavior, inappropriate emotional behavior, attention seeking, repetitive statements, and behaviors that are apparently precipitated and/or intensified by the effects of the setting sun i.e., changes in color, angles, and intensity of daylight, can be altered by environmental lighting interventions designed to control the daylight effects of the setting sun. This learning/practice partnership brought together the diverse expertise of research team members and provided new ways of examining research questions. Subjects were evaluated by medical practitioners to determine the probable presence of Alzheimer's disease. Disruptive behaviors were identified by trained observers reviewing 100 hours of videotaped observation, and videotaped observations of the subjects continued as subjects rotated monthly for four months between two apparently identical environments–one controlled and one experimental using environmental lighting interventions. Trained observers made double blind observation of subjects and recorded the frequency of disruptive behaviors on behavior observation checksheets. Tabulations of the disruptive behaviors were made, and percentage of change was calculated. A drop of 41% in the disruptive behaviors of subjects, while in the experimental environment, was demonstrated in the first rotation cycle, and an 11 % drop in disruptive behaviors was found in a second cycle. Inter–rater reliability across all tapes was 70%. Individuals exhibiting the highest frequencies of disruptive behaviors also demonstrated the most dramatic decreases in these behaviors while in the experimental environment. Environmental lighting interventions designed for this study appear to lessen the detrimental behavioral| effects of the setting sun on the behaviors of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.