The coronavirus pandemic has brought profound changes to senior living facilities. The elder community is, after all, most at risk, and retirement communities in Douglasville are at the coalface of change.
The restrictions imposed since the start of the pandemic have changed how senior residents live, socialize, and receive medical care. Staff working in these facilities are under a lot of stress and struggle to provide the required services to residents. For the past few months, the focus of seniors' living providers, particularly those offering residential aged care, has been on staying alive, protect their staff, and provide high-quality services to their residents.
The same goes for active adult communities in Douglasville, which imposed special social distancing measures and reduced group activities. Many aged-care facilities have imposed a no-visiting policy for family members and friends. In many facilities, close contact is still impossible. However, some facilities do allow limited contact via small open windows, where distancing can be easily controlled. For residents who are very frail and deemed near the end of their life, close relatives are allowed to enter the room, but under very strict conditions.
Other measures imposed by senior living providers include canceling group activities, communal dining, and entertainment options. Meals are provided individually and social contact is limited. Providers are also relying heavily on technology, especially when communicating with close relatives. Telemedicine is provided in some cases.
Senior living communities are changing. Future facilities will have to be designed with this scenario in mind. There must be new ways to provide care and support to senior citizens, but also maintain social distancing and include technology. Sheltering senior citizens in retirement communities in Douglasville will protect them and will provide the much-needed peace of mind, but it will come at a cost for the operators.
What's more, seniors rely on socialization and group activities. These facilities have to be vibrant and attractive, in order to provide a better environment for senior citizens – but how can they be redesigned in order to guarantee safety? Future designs must seek solutions to safely maximize social interaction, but to also minimize infections and reduce healthcare risks. The question is how?
The challenge for architects and designers is real and adjustments to these designs must be made as soon as possible. There are previous designs similar to institutional layouts (large facilities, with hundreds of separate rooms), but this will definitely represent a downgrade for the entire industry. New models must be implemented – such as smaller, much more intimate styles of senior housing that provide the social areas for small groups of seniors. These new facilities will also work better for future pandemics, or for the minor pandemics, such as the flu every fall.
Living separately, but together
The key to redesigning retirement communities in Douglasville is to avoid massive disruptions. Large providers must choose designs that emphasize the use of separate neighborhoods, where senior residents live, socialize, and dine together, but in small groups. The ideal communities will be those that feature small “pocket neighborhoods” or smaller village-like communities. For instance, small groups of individual homes can create a pocket neighborhood, which can provide the best services to senior residents. Small communities are great because they can be efficiently cordoned off in case of a future pandemic, but without bringing the whole community to a stop.
A great solution is the compartmentalization of services, similar to partitions on large ships. Small independent neighborhoods are key to providing efficient services to senior citizens. Strategic separation of residents will also be a solution.
Unfortunately, we still see newly built, but old-model nursing homes, featuring 60 beds, with two people in a room. These facilities will suffer a lot during future pandemics and have to be completely redesigned. During a crisis, the residents living in this type of facility will not be able to self-isolate.
New active adult communities in Douglasville can feature dozens or even hundreds of residents on the same campus, but there's a catch. The campus must feature multiple focal points or smaller neighborhoods that can be isolated during a healthcare crisis. Self-contained neighborhoods will be the solution, but implementation will be difficult. Assisted living communities should be broken down into 16 to 20-bed households. In some cases, even smaller households should be built, especially for the residents who are particularly vulnerable.
Urban senior housing units located in highrise buildings also have to follow this guideline. In this scenario, 16 to 20 independent units will be grouped on a single floor. A small communal dining area will be available on each floor. If a health crisis occurs, an entire floor can be isolated, affecting less residents than before. Strict anti-infection protocols will be easier to implement.
Designing for new technology
Another major factor that shapes the design of new retirement communities is technology. Senior care providers already use technology in their facilities, but the trend is definitely accelerating during this period.
For instance, many senior residents in active adult communities in Douglasville are already using modern remote communication tools, like Skype or Zoom, to stay in touch with relatives and friends, but also with medical professionals. The use of these services is expected to grow during the next years, especially as the technology infrastructure expands. Technology should be included in new designs and it should be adapted to how seniors use it. For instance, software should be used without having to press buttons or grab handles. Activation should be done via motion control or voice control. In-person visits should be organized in a dedicated “clean room”, which includes a modern intercom system in order to stop possible infections.
Similarly, investing in telemedicine is critical. Software tools should be provided for telemedicine sessions, as well as special rooms designed for this type of service. If not possible, a cart with videoconferencing technology should be provided for smaller facilities.
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