Designing Interiors to Mitigate Physical and Cognitive Deficits Related to Aging and to Promote Longevity in Older Adults: A Review

Abstract

Background: With the increasing global population of older adults, there is a need for environmental interventions that directly affect their physical, psychological, and emotional well-being to help them maintain or regain their independence and autonomy -all of which promote longevity. Methods: To better understand potential opportunities and challenges associated with interior design and "future homes" that may promote well-being, aging in place, and independent living in older adults, the authors reviewed relevant literature and included their own expert opinions from a multidisciplinary point of view including interior design, wellness, and engineering. Results: After summarizing existing environmental interventions for the aging population and their effectiveness, this review reveals knowledge gaps in interior design for the well-being and longevity of older adults followed by a discussion of opportunities for future research that may fill these gaps. Some of these opportunities include finding habilitative design strategies that identify and address unique situational needs of each user, advancing multidisciplinary fields such as environmental gerontology that recreate security and independence for older adults even outside of their homes, implementing technically advanced design strategies, which are flexible and adaptive to individual needs; and integrating the Internet of things (IoT) into living environments, including voice-activated command technologies to improve seniors' central role in enabling an optimized healthcare ecosystem. Conclusions: Knowledge of current evidence regarding the impact of different environmental factors may hasten adaptation of well-designed innovations that can provide optimal healing and living environments for the aging population. By effectively addressing older adults' unique and specialized needs, design practitioners can become an indispensable part of their medical, social, and environmental team. One of the rapidly developing infrastructures promising to revolutionize the design of "future homes" is the IoT. While it is at an early stage of development, ultimately we envisage a connected home using voice-controlled technology and Bluetooth-radio-connected add-ons, to augment much of what home health does today. Bringing these approaches together into an effective strategy for a model of effective geriatric care is important and needs to become an integral part of both design education and practice.

Aging and Eye Tracking: in the Quest for Objective Biomarkers

“…These progresses arise the idea of ubiquitous healthcare, in which portable devices play key roles in the acquisition of biosignals [259], which can be beneficial for active aging and to prevent age-related defects. The internet of medical (or health) things [260][261][262][263][264], quantum computing [265][266][267] and the fifth-generation cellular network technology in healthcare [268,269] are the areas, where eye tracking can be thought of as an important modality for active aging. It is important to take the most out of these technologies and frameworks to better serve the elderly individuals concerning the population aging [270].…”

A Qualitative Study toward Technologies for Active and Healthy Aging: A Thematic Analysis of Perspectives among Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary End Users

“…The challenge is to create smart living environments that are safe and secure while also preventing hazards, disability, stress, fear, and social isolation [ 27 ]. This new generation of devices may empower individuals to take care of their own health, thus promoting the central role of the person and responsibility in enabling an optimized health care ecosystem [ 28 ]. This challenge should be supported by a chain of value focused on the development of appropriate services for the promotion of active aging based on how effectively older adults want to age [ 3 ].…”

Exploring a sustainable building’s impact on occupant mental health and cognitive function in a virtual environment

“…For example, Heerwagen found the visual connection to daylight through the interior partition (glazing) increased satisfaction in officer workers even if they did not have direct daylight in their immediate space 76 . Sternberg and team demonstrated spatial familiarity and predictability are key to the safety and autonomy of seniors, so when designing a hospital room for elderly patients, the designer should put more consideration into the location of the entry door and the process by which the patient moves across the open space to a desired point 77 . However, the existing literature connecting the cognitive function's impact on design is limited.…”