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HEALTHCARE FLOORING


continue routine activities, keeps them safe, and reassures visiting families. The idea of a familiar and comfortable environment is inseparable from the idea of more personalised spaces that enable residents to transpose their own memories into the dementia unit. To counteract the sense of being enclosed, flexible multi-functional spaces that offer easy access and enhance movement are recommended. Where NHS hospital wards discourage elderly patients from walking corridors unattended due to safety concerns, in some cases this should actively be encouraged in specialist dementia units. When designing such interiors, it is important both to include light, large areas open to the outside, with numerous points of interest that will encourage exploration and ambulation, and, equally, not to isolate the building from the outside world.


Therefore, when supporting the design of a dementia unit, a new way of thinking is required from specifiers that goes beyond the general healthcare sector. Even closer attention must be paid to each and every element that makes up the interior solutions, and when it comes to the flooring, there are some key considerations to make.


An added value tool


Contrast, colour, design, light, and acoustics are the most essential parameters to consider in designing spaces for aged care and those living with dementia. It is important that the architectural design stage incorporates these criteria into the choice of flooring – to both ensure technical ‘added value’, and a sensory, psychological contribution. Here are some of the main factors to consider:


Design: A balance of form and function Contrast


Perhaps the single most important aspect of dementia design is contrast. Unlike paint, for example, flooring patterns are often made up of more than one colour, meaning that contrast is present. HBN 08- 02, Dementia Friendly Health and Social Care Environments, published by the Department of Health in 2015, agrees that considered use of contrast can make a huge improvement to the quality of life of those living with dementia. By nature, variations in contrast create dimensions. With regard to flooring, if not considered carefully, these dimensions can create the illusion of a change in level. In a healthcare environment such as an Alzheimer’s unit, where patients may have impaired vision, this can significantly increase the risk of falls.


Wood designs are a key example of the importance of contrast. Popular in the UK due to their association with domesticity,


Wood designs are a key example of the importance of contrast.


an incorrect wood grain pattern can be disturbing to those living with dementia in aged care facilities. Without careful consideration, wood designs may create the illusion of an unstable floor, unsettling residents, and discouraging them from maintaining independent mobility. Alternatively, extremely low contrast wood designs will be viewed as though the wood grain has disappeared, meaning they are likely to feel institutional to the resident. As previously mentioned, it is key that residents feel as comfortable and ‘at home’ as possible, so it is important that healthcare facilities do not resemble hospitals, with the associated stigma of illness that surrounds them.


Colour


While colour cannot be seen by around 40% of those living with dementia due to the ageing eye, it still appears to perform an important function in how people with Alzheimer’s and dementia perceive their environment. Studies show that certain colours can cause behavioural problems. On the other hand, some colours seem to encourage a sense of wellbeing, and help to create a setting that patients find reassuring. Colour can also be crucial in


ensuring that an environment remains familiar to a resident, even as their condition evolves.


In response, designers should avoid


using: n Acid and electric colours that can lead to agitation and confusion.


n Sombre colours such as black and very dark grey, that can create a fear of falling, or the sensation that there is an obstacle to cross.


n The overuse of very light colours, and white in particular, which can seem blinding.


n Grass green at ground floor level, which patients can mistake for outside space like the garden.


n Bright red, which can over-stimulate n Mauve, which doesn’t reflect light well, and that can be perceived as a gloomy colour.


n Turquoise blue that can be mistaken for water.


Pattern


In addition, patterns on walls and floors are important in helping to create a comfortable and familiar environment in an Alzheimer’s unit. However, some patterns can cause confusion in residents,


Using contrasting colours between walls and floors can aid seeing dimension. January 2020 Health Estate Journal 67


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