Sunday, May 18, 2014

Senior Living: Aging Eyes Need More Light

Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) number 81 million in the United States, and they are now approaching retirement age. As these seniors segue into their golden years, they will have special lighting design needs.

According to AARP, 92 percent of seniors want to USA led indoor lighting wholesale in their own homes, even if this requires remodeling. Boomers are already hiring contractors and architects to make their homes more elderly friendly. They're installing ramps, widening doors and doing lots of things so they can function in these houses they love. They're re-designing their lighting to meet their needs also.

So what are seniors' lighting-design needs? Let's start with the fact that older eyes need more light to see. At the same time, they also become more sensitive to glare. Eye diseases, such as cataracts, may make it harder to see colors or visually accommodate to rooms where the lighting level is uneven.

The process of aging causes the lens of the eye to become less transparent. It develops a slight yellow tint, which changes the perception of color so they see things with a yellow cast. As the lens becomes less clear, this causes light to scatter inside the eye, which increases glare. This also results in a loss of luminosity causing seniors to need more light to perform tasks.

Two issues that affect seniors are falls and sleep disorders. Walking to the bathroom in the dark greatly increases the possibility of falls. One option would be to install an occupancy sensor in the bedroom. Another would be to place a strip of amber-colored LED lights around the bathroom door to help guide them safely.

Since as we age we produce less melatonin, sleep disorders are another common concern for seniors. Solutions to this problem could include installing residential "blackout" blinds as well as control systems and dimmers.

Other recommended lighting design changes for older people and seniors include:

Increased light levels in task areas such as kitchen counters, bathrooms and sitting rooms where reading or visually demanding work is done.
Indirect lighting rather than downlights or accent lights to soften shadows and make room lighting more uniform. Match indirect lighting with light-colored wall and ceiling surfaces to improve lighting uniformity.
Reducing glare by using diffusing shades instead of bare, bright bulbs for decorative lighting.
Adjustable task lights to easily add more Europe led outdoor lighting wholesale for hard-to-see print and small objects or details.
Dimmers so lighting levels can be adjusted for optimal seeing.
Low-level, well-shielded stair, entrance and hallway lights to make steps visible and to illuminate potential hazards.
Automatic motion sensor controls to turn on hallway or bathroom lights for easier orientation and safer walking at night.

No comments:

Post a Comment