Aging in Place | Eat Dessert First | Plan Your Lighting Scheme Before the Grab Bars


Blog02_@Kampeck_Inkjpg

@kampeck_ink

Aging In Place in the 21st Century

We’ve all heard the statistics about the grey wave, and how by 2034 we will have more people over the age of 65 in the US than under the age of 18. These people will need some place to live. These people may be your parents. These people may be you.

As we consider how we might alter our spaces for an aging in place environment, the first thought often goes to grab bars, walk in tubs, slip resistant tile, etc. Important things to consider, and things we will consider in my posts here as well. But I would challenge you to think about what people usually think of last in design which is lighting for aging in place.

Perhaps I am thinking of this because my father is a retired ophthalmologist who often left magazines on the coffee table with their covers of human eyeballs staring at you when you were looking for a coaster. Regardless, lighting design is really important.

As we age, our eyes will also age, and we should use any aging in place design to accommodate this fact. So let’s take a look at some of the most common eye problems out there and how we can make some smart decisions to adjust: these common eye problems include cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. 


Eye Disease 101 

catraract.jpg

Cataracts are a gradual opacification of your lens due to aging and UV light (yet another reason to wear your sunglasses when out and about). What ends up happening is a gradual loss of central vision...Dad said patients would often just say that the world looked… dimmer. There are different kinds of cataracts including a nuclear cataract where the lens gets browner and actually filters out blue rays so the eye only registers greens, yellows and tans.  The other type of cataract, the cortical cataract, scatters light and creates glare. You don’t really want to sign up for either.  

The good news is that cataracts can be removed by surgery. The bad news is that cataracts usually develop in the mid 50s but people don’t usually get them out until their late 60s and women get them younger than men. What this means is that people, more often of them women, will be living in a compromised vision space for 10 to 15 years or more without even realizing it. 

glaucoma.jpg

Glaucoma affects over three million Americans, and again about 50 percent of the population don’t know they have it. Statistics at UCSF reveal that it is the number one leading cause of vision loss in African Americans. 

What is glaucoma? It is progressive damage to the optic nerve that creates eye pressure and leads to side vision loss or vignetting, the opposite experience from a cataract. The bad news is that glaucoma is not curable, it can only be controlled via drops, and at times, surgery. 

Macular Degeneration occurs mostly after the age of 50 but 25% of adults over the age of 70 have signs of this and 50% have signs of this by the age of 90. Macular degeneration results in the loss of central vision. 

(BTW, this photo was taken in Israel near the Dead Sea of a man riding a camel at a gas station. But if your vision is impaired you don’t register everything which is unfortunate.)

While I don’t suggest making huge renovation modifications based on eye disease, practially anyone who is aging will experience some vision loss….even if you are given corrective lenses as you age maybe you want to be able to walk around your kitchen or bathroom without wearing your glasses. So now let’s take a look at the way some design decisions can make dealing with the simple act of eye aging easier.


Think Miami Vice. 

miamivice.JPG

I may be outing myself age-wise with this reference to Crockett and Tubbs but then I have scrolled through enough of my Millennial friends’ Instagram accounts to know that attending a throwback Miami Vice party in your pastel blazers is kind of trendy. But what I’m talking about here is not the fashion so much as the look that director Michael Mann would employ often for his shots which was blue light. Whether he thought it was sexier to set his characters more in motion for a drug deal before sunrise I don’t know but the blue hue to his shots became a Miami Vice signature. So let’s employ it here in our aging in place design.

So say you are shopping for lightbulbs (or lamps as we say in the biz) and you have a choice of purchasing something that is advertised as “warm” or “cool.” Most people would pick the “warm” because it sounds cozier. In actuality, you may be making a better decision for an eye that is potentially yellowing to buy  a bulb that is bluer or a daylight bulb to offset the yellowing degeneration of the eye. Look for something that advertises a chromacity above 4000K to achieve this. Even a “daylight” bulb usually rated at 5600K would be a good bet. 


Avoiding The Godfather Effect by Layering Light

godfatherpolaroid.JPG

I know what you’re thinking. But I like The Godfather. Why wouldn’t I want to look like I’m part of this movie? The answer is that this deliberate cinematographic choice to light from above created the effect of hollowing out Brando’s eyes. This is what you look like to most people talking to you in the room with standard boilerplate recessed can configurations in the ceiling. So unless you are part of the mafia let’s improve on this.

One of the things that lighting designers often find woeful is how there seems to be a cookie cutter way of lighting spaces with recessed cans four feet apart that has the habit of lighting furniture vs. people (see Kampeck_Ink’s image at the beginning of this post). Let’s not give our relatives or ourselves a plan where we are lighting the armchair perfectly and yet we can’t find our glasses on our own laps. For this part of the job we are going to have to look at changing up the standard recessed can design and also looking at the other elements in our space that could be contributing to problems.

So whether you are working with a design professional or just the contractor yourself you should advocate for lighting that is layered, lighting that will ambiently light the space as well as lighting that might wash the art etc. on your wall plus task lighting. Let’s say you are working on a living room space. Perhaps you will have one large surface mount fixture for ambient lighting, some wall washing cans for the art, and then simple armchair lamps or end table lamps for tasks like reading. By layering the light you won’t simply be walking in between dark spaces that the recessed cans above don’t reach and everything will be evenly lit. Our goal here is not to make the eye work harder in an aging in place environment but to help it out.

For most contractors this will be hardest adjustment to make. The reason why the four foot apart recessed can mantra is so prevalent is because it is simple for THEM. But guess what, they aren’t the ones living there! So ask them to do what will serve your needs!


Avoiding Glare Bombs

Notice the bulbs have no modification which can cause intense glare. Sorry fan, ditch your light and we’ll talk.

Notice the bulbs have no modification which can cause intense glare. Sorry fan, ditch your light and we’ll talk.

So if you look at the “eye disease” section again the most common response on how the eye ages is the feeling of gradual dimming of a space. We need quality light but less glare or excessive brightness. Simple things can cause glare. Contrast between rooms causes glare. So if the living room is dark and the kitchen is not, that can cause glare. 

There are different kinds of glare. Direct glare is high illumination not covered or shielded (any unshielded lamp more than 25 watts can cause glare.) Indirect glare is reflected glare like sunlight bouncing off a white surface. Discomfort glare is uncomfortable but you can still perform tasks. Disability glare is glare so bad you can’t see. Let’s not get to the point where we are living in any of these states.

Upshot? When we are designing a space for aging in place we are also looking at the ways we can control glare. This comes from controlling the fixture and controlling the environment. 

So when you are selecting the light fixtures themselves make sure they have an option for modifying then such as a louver, shade or baffle. If this gets too heady, ask a designer or the vendor for help. In many cases you may be able to return the modifier if it doesn’t work out.

You should also look at your environment. What are your windows treatments doing to scatter the light effectively? Could you add a simple sheer to your curtains to diffuse the light?

If you are making new appliance selections, that stainless steel appliance may look slamming but maybe not the best choice for aging in place where the reflectance quality is 50-60 percent. So start looking at all those products you are considering with your newfound glare radar.  

If you are making a cabinet selection for your kitchen or bathroom remember that they don’t have to look like a Porsche dealership. You won’t be able to reach those cabinets if you are blinded and fall.