Extensive research indicates the health, well-being and productivity of patients, residents and caregivers can be improved through Spectrally Enhanced Circadian Lighting (SECL) that syncs the body’s circadian rhythm with the natural environment.
Benefits of SECL solutions include:
Helping seniors in healthcare and residential facilities live healthier and happier lives.
Helping healthcare professionals who care for seniors enjoy a healthier working environment.
Helping healthcare administrators benefit from cost savings, increased productivity and better outcomes.
Elderly patients have specialized needs.
According to the United Nations, the number of people over 60 years old will more than double by 2050. As human life spans increase and populations age, understanding how circadian rhythms impact health and lifestyles is of profound interest to the medical community.
Circadian rhythm is the roughly 24-hour cycle in the physiological processes of all living beings. In humans, the circadian clock is involved in many aspects of our lives, including regulation of sleep pattern, feeding behavior, hormone release, blood pressure, immunology, and body temperature.
Years of research now indicate that elderly people have increasing difficulty regulating their circadian rhythms.
They experience sleepless nights, more frequent daytime sleep episodes, and generally go to sleep and wake up earlier.
Sleep dysfunction is also related to depression in old age. Circadian rhythm disturbances in those individuals can cause diurnal mood variation and changes of the mean core temperature, endocrine release, and metabolic functions.
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia can damage neurons in the region of the brain that controls the circadian clock.
Poor sleep in all adults is linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and obesity—and it may be a sign of future dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Seniors residing in assisted living facilities are considered a population at risk for circadian disorders.
Due to age-dependent reduced retinal light exposures and fixed lighting conditions in their living environments, seniors are less likely to experience the necessary, robust 24-hour light/dark pattern needed for healthy circadian synchronization.
Nursing home residents are exposed to only around 9–11 minutes of bright light a day, compared to 60 minutes for young adults and 40 minutes for elderly living at home, with the average as low as one minute a day for severely demented institutionalized patients.
LED lighting provides solutions.
An extensive report developed by a panel of experts for the National Toxicology Program indicates that too much blue-rich light at night can disrupt sleep and other biological processes. Alternatively, under-lighting open areas during the day also contributes to sleep and health issues.
The problem is being addressed by developing a 24-hour lighting approach with new Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology that delivers high circadian impact during daytime hours and low stimulation at night.
The lights are easily installed in traditional fixtures and can be controlled for individual patients.
Enhancing artificial light helps regulate the circadian rhythms of older adults, especially those suffering from dementia.
In many studies, including one by the Lighting Resource Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, changes were made to the lighting in nursing home resident’s rooms.
Researchers found that the tailored lighting treatment significantly increased global sleep, decreased depression, and reduced agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.
“We don’t want to overstate the benefits. But we shouldn’t dismiss them either,” said LRC director Mariana Figueiro, PhD, in a recent interview. “We have the technology now. It’s a shame that more people aren’t harnessing it.”
Healthcare professionals need healthy environments too.
Not only do patients benefit from controlled circadian lighting, but years of research indicate that the people taking care of them will find advantages as well. That’s especially important for night-shift workers who may experience reduced cognitive performance, higher possibility for human error, and increased risk for diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, breast, and prostate cancers.
While there are no specific Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations or standards addressing the risks of shift work, employers have a legal obligation to furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards that could harm employees.
A comprehensive evaluation of more than two dozen long-term studies on the impact of light on shift workers was conducted in 2019 by the Working Time Society and the International Committee on Occupational Health. The research concluded that light interventions form an effective tool to manipulate the circadian system and, ostensibly, to reduce some of the negative consequences.
For example, one of the studies indicated shift workers' sleepiness and working memory errors significantly declined when they were exposed to blue-enriched white light at night. In another study, nurses working rotating shifts experienced increased reaction time and performance with adjusted light.
Elder care facilities reduce expenses.
Providing healthier, safer, and more productive environments that keep employees alert and patients asleep requires careful analysis of workspaces, lighting options, and controls.
The Illuminating Engineering Society’s 2018 ANSI/IES RP-28-16, Lighting and the Visual Environment for Seniors and the Low Vision Population and the Facility Guidelines Institute’s 2018 FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities provide many proven suggestions.
Strategies include:
Working with facility staff and lighting experts to analyze the space, consider patient and staff needs, and determine an optimal schedule.
Choosing lighting fixtures that deliver specific wavelengths of blue-rich and blue-depleted white light.
Installing SECL in corridors, rooms, general areas, nursing stations, and other staffing areas.
Setting controls to automatically adjust the blue content of white light for time-of-day and lighting location.
Developing metrics and benchmarking patient and staff behavior before and after installation.
Monitoring records to calculate cost savings and productivity improvements.
Lighting upgrades can provide reasonably priced solutions and predictable costs.
For instance, a 2018 LED upgrade project in a Missouri skilled nursing and memory care facility was designed to improve light levels and quality. The facility realized a 60% reduction in annual lighting costs and realized a payback of less than 2-years.
Because the LEDs last longer than traditional bulbs, additional maintenance savings will also accrue.
Beyond the cost savings, the facility has a brighter and more welcoming environment, sending a message of both care and innovation to residents, visitors, and staff.
Spectrally Enhanced Circadian Lighting has a promising future in senior care.
Benefits to residents & patients
In addition to improved alertness, cognition and mood, lighting improvements can reduce harm in many ways:
Dementia behaviors: 41% reduction
Sundowning: 38% reduction
Falls: 32% reduction
Anti-anxiety meds: reduction from 1.99 to 1.84 per 1,000 residents
Psychotropic sleeping meds: reduction from 1.00 to 0.92 per 1,000 residents
Hip fractures in stroke patients: 84% reduction
Further reduction of Hospital Acquired Infections (“HAI”)
Benefits to the organization & staff
Increased staff productivity
Increased staff utilization
Reduced staff turnover
Potential source of new revenue
Competitive differentiation
Lower risk of breast and prostate cancer
Reduced insurance premiums
Additional 20% energy savings
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The future is CLEAR.
Bring Spectrally Enhanced Circadian Lighting—and all its benefits—to your business.
