Picture this for a moment. Global cases of Alzheimer’s disease are expected to surpass 15 million by 2050. More than 50% of the patients will be received bysenior living communities, assisted living facilities,and nursing homes.
That means a couple of things.
One of those is caregivers will increasingly want to take their older loved ones to the best modern senior living facilities for optimal care.
Take one example. You’ll want to design a holistic senior living community instead of focusing on just medical needs, as a top California senior living community developer emphasizes.
There are more tips from the developer, Mathew Griffin, whose senior living communities’ portfolio has won several awards.
- Locate the Facilities near The Elderly
Imagine spending your adult life in one city then moving to another town in your old age. You do not want that to be your community’s plight.
Moving to a senior facility should be a smooth transition from the traditional home. One way to help with that is to ensure the facility is near an aging population.
A closelocation also helps families access their senior citizens as they need to spend quality time together.
That is crucialfor helping seniors feel included, involved in loved ones’ lives, which is great for their mental health.
- Consider Amenities
Senior living should go beyond the home set up.
Sometimes people need to stretch and get an outdoor feeling. As such, add hospitality facilities that inject life into the elderly.
These amenities include art galleries, stores, theaters, massage parlors, chiropractic centers, organic food stores, and healthy-eating restaurants.
Such designs also help attract neighboring families and loved ones to interactwith senior citizens.
Design activity spots into your senior living community as well. Activities are timeless conversation-starters.
Chatting with new and old friends can help older patients improve their dementia symptoms, for example.
- Keep Lawful Regulations in Mind As Well
The government has codes and guidelines that ensure assisted living facilities are upto standard for caring for the nation’s parents.
Here are some regulations that guide senior living developers that you’ll want to follow:
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)outlines some things you should consider when designing a senior living facility for Americansliving with various physical or otherwise challenges.
• The Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) publishes care facilities’ design and construction guidelines every four years.
• The International Code Council (ICC) publishes the International Building Code (IBC) every three years to help building inspectors evaluate your facility. You’ll want to know what they look for before you begin building your senior living community.
• The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101 guides fire officials on fire-proofing buildings. The NFPA publishes these standards every four years.
Follow those codes, and you’ll design and build yourself a high-standard senior citizen facility.
Feel like that’s all too much to keep in mind?
Well, you can choose an expert real estate developer that specializes in designing and building senior living communities near you.
- Keep Residents Healthy
Healthy lifestyles keep senior citizens going strong well into their senior-most years.
Consider creating spacious, warm, and inviting communal spaces, for example. The areas are ideal for social interactions and physical fitness activities.
For instance, gardening, painting, sports, and cooking are essential recreational activities for the elderly. Ensure that there is supervision during such hobbies to avoid accidents.
To help with that, keep your design open and flowing to ensure caregivers can keep everyone in good sight if a resident needs help somewhere.
Additionally, design your building for natural lighting. Senior citizens require 5-10 minutes of sunlight three times a week, which is excellent for their bones.
Soaking the sun also helps calibrate a person’s internal clock. In turn, that can help improve your seniors’ sleeping patterns, reducing their stress levels.
Conclusion
The government provides codes and standards for building and designing senior living facilities.
However, a good developer should include the personal needs of the residents.
For example, start by choosing a prime location. It will helpyou increase interactions among loved ones, making your senior living facility even more attractive.
