Pilot study to examine the effects of indoor daylight exposure on depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms in people living with dementia in long-term care communities.

A 12-week study was conducted in eight dementia care communities involving 77 participants addressing the hypothesis that an intervention of increasing indoor exposure to daylight will reduce depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms. At four communities, staff were enlisted to increase daylight exposure by taking participants to a perimeter room with daylight exposure for socialization in the morning (8:00-10:00 AM) each day. At the other four communities, a control group were taken to a similar sized area without daylight for socialization under typical electrical lighting conditions.