With a growing need for long-term care facilities in general, and for specialized dementia units in particular, it is important to ensure that the architectural layouts of such facilities support the well-being of both the residents and the unit caregivers. This study aimed to investigate correlations between the support provided by the architectural layout of long-term care units for enhancing residents' well-being and for decreasing unit caregivers' burnout and increasing their resilience-as layouts may impact each party differently. The Psycho Spatial Evaluation Tool was utilized to assess the support provided by the layouts of seventeen long-term care units (ten regular nursing units and seven specialized dementia units) for the residents' physical and social well-being (five dimensions); a questionnaire was used to measure the unit caregivers' burnout and resilience.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen planning long-term care facilities (LTCFs), architects strive to design buildings that support high well-being (WB) levels for those who live and work in them. To achieve this goal, architects must understand what defines WB in old age and how these qualities can be achieved through the designed physical layout. This task must be achieved while tackling additional challenges, such as considering the official planning guidelines, codes, and additional requests given by the client.
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