For People With Alzheimer's and Dementia, Thoughtful Design Can Have Big Impact

A pilot study by University of Southern California (USC) Professor Kyle Konis published in Clinical Interventions in Aging examined how natural lighting affects older adults with dementia and Alzheimer's, reports USC News . The study examined about 80 participants across eight memory care communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, indicating that early morning exposure to natural light improved residents' mood, positively impacting depression and psychoactive symptoms. Konis observed that redesigning the environment for better lighting is one way to ameliorate cognitive delay and behavioral issues without adding medications to residents' drug regimen. Konis hopes to continue studying the effect of daylighting, which could inform how developers and communities approach designing for this demographic.