It is said that the recognition of people with dementia becomes gradually depending more on the level of senses than on the level of intelligence. It means that they unconsciously respond to environment. Therefore this study insists the healing enviro...
It is said that the recognition of people with dementia becomes gradually depending more on the level of senses than on the level of intelligence. It means that they unconsciously respond to environment. Therefore this study insists the healing environment for dementia should reflect the sensory stimulation.
The healing value on residents with dementia in sensory stimulation environment was convinced through the review of literatures on nursing science and psychiatry, so this study could be possible.
The prominent difference of this study from prior studies is the approach. While prior studies were performed in a limited sensory room, this study attempted to expand the range of the analysis of sensory stimulation to residents' daily living and the whole residential environment of facilities.
Purposes of this study are as follows;
The first is to grasp the relation between dementia and sensory stimulation factors, and to evaluate the degree of the multi-sensory stimulation environment of existing dementia facilities.
The second is to analyze the relation between behavioral reaction and sensory stimulation, and to find out what healing environment factors are.
The third is to suggest the guideline for an architectural planning regarding multi-sensory stimulation environment.
To raise a question about the care environment and to suggest alternatives of the healing environment considering multi-sensory stimulation, this paper were conducted with following methods. First, existing theories on dementia and sensory stimulation and the methodology of the spatial assessment by the sensory stimulation were extensively reviewed. In the main subject, healing environmental factors were examined by assessing existing facilities according to the sensory stimulation, verifying the result, and analyzing the relation between sensory stimulations and spatial behaviors.
In the conclusion, the guideline for an architectural planning considering sensory stimulation is suggested. The brief outline focusing on the conclusion is as follows.
(1) Healing environmental factors;
The order of priority of sensory reactions is answered ‘vision’, ‘hearing’, ‘touch’ and ‘smell’ in the dementia care environment. On the other hand, in the assessment of multi-sensory stimulation environments of existing facilities, the order of priority of sensory reactions is presented ‘vision’, ‘smell’, ‘touch’ and ‘hearing'. It disproves that ‘hearing’, the second important sense, has not been met in existing facilities.
According to the analysis of the relation between the dementia and sensory stimulation factors, here are some suggestions of the sensory stimulation as healing environmental factors for caring dementia.
① To improve the orientation, good visual environments such as suitable light and view, a characteristic and pleasant corridor, visual access to the destination, and private sphere should be considered. Also calm environment, tasty smell or natural fragrance, and a wooden handrail for residents’ good touching are examined as healing environmental factors for the orientation.
② To reduce negative behaviors, view of nature, comfortable light, and homelikeness are presented as desirable factors. At the same time, auditory environment where residents could control noise, and listen to the music and natural sounds is analyzed to reduce negative behaviors. Ventilation, tasty smell and natural fragrance were significant as olfactory environment, and social contact and access to the nature were also important as a tactile environment for the healing environment.
③ To control ‘wandering’, the arrangement of characteristic factors and chairs on wandering path, contacts with nature, the space with proper rate of light and shadow, and visual access to the destination are important. Furthermore, a soundproof facility, tasty smell, well-ventilation, contact with family and nature are supposed as the healing environmental factors for caring wandering.
④ To socialize residents with dementia, comfort light, view of nature, homelikeness, and accessible garden are needed as a visual environment. Auditory environment that residents can control noise to talk each other quietly or listen to music, olfactory environment that they can access to the good smell of foods or nature without any intellectual efforts, and also tactile environment that they could be possible to contact with society or nature is analyzed sensory stimulations to socialize residents.
(2) Architectural planning suggestions for the healing environment; According to the relation between sensory stimulation and behaviors, this study analyzed the higher the score of sensory stimulation is, the more positive behaviors are caused. This study shows that sensory stimulation factors have deep relation to the healing in the care environment. Here are some guidelines for healing environment factors identified by behaviors.
① As a result of analyzing relations between light and the residents’ behavior, the higher the rate of natural light is in a public space, the higher the sensory stimulation score is and the more positive residents’ behavior is. However comparative cases show even though all the conditions of light, view and ventilation are similar, the results can be different. It means the size of the residential space should also be reckoned among important factors.
② As a result of analyzing relations between the density of a space and residents’ behavior, the bigger the social space is, the higher the sensory stimulation score presented, and the more positive the behavioral reaction of residents is. The lower the density of facility is, the more often residents use a social space, and also the more positive the behavioral reaction is. This study stresses that planning the low density of resident units with noise control is needed.
③ As a result of analyzing relation between accessibility and residents’ behavior, the better visual access is, the more positive the sensory stimulation assessment and the residents’ behavioral reaction are. Residents’ using behavior in a public space shows that the better the accessibility is, the higher the occupancy rate is, and the worse the accessibility is, the lower the occupancy rate is. Therefore good accessibility is thought as a positive factor of the healing environment for resident with cognitive impairment.
④ As a result of analyzing relation between touch with nature and residents’ behavior, if residents have more chances to touch with nature, they react more positively, and expand their sphere of activity to outside. A public space near a garden has relatively high occupancy rate and produces active atmosphere for social interaction. To provide residents with the varieties of sensory experience, it is desirable that planning care environments reflect the importance of an accessible nature.
As mentioned above, the results of healing environment identified by behaviors show that interactions among factors are needed, not an individual factor for desirable healing value. For example, one factor, such as light or density, doesn't decide the quality of the environmental stimulation, but the interaction of sensory stimulation factors including light, views, homelike and flexible space, accessibility, noise control, ventilation and therapeutic touch with nature is considered to affect much more on the quality of the environmental stimulation.
Since there has been not enough discussion on whether the multi-sensory stimulation environment as a therapeutic intervention was therapeutic, and systematic studies have been insufficient, this study lays a cornerstone for further studies.
Meanings of this study are as follows.
The first of all, this study expands the scopes of study on the healing environment from a limited sensory room where prior studies usually performed to the whole residential environment.
The second, this study proves that behavioral reaction can be used to measure a healing environment.
And the last, this study gives the most important meaning to the fact that it examines and suggests multi-sensory stimulation environment as an alternative to non-stimulating healing environment of the residents with dementia who are suffering from sensory deficits.
Growing demands for the dementia care environment and studies throughout the world result in further studies on multi-sensory environment as a fundamental and active alternative. It is recognized that studies on the healing environment for older people with dementia should be developed continuously to provide them not with allopathic treatment but with the general and resonable effects.