Associate Professor Rosa Baier of Brown University led a 7-person research team to study the effects of tunable LED lighting in 99-person ACC Care Center nursing homes. ACC Care Center is located in Sacramento, California. This nursing home participates in the lighting demonstration installation project carried out by the Lamento municipal institution and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy.
By installing indoor LED lamps that can adjust the color and light intensity during day and night, ACC Care Center improves sleep disorders of the elderly without the need for prescription sleeping pills.
According to reports, a total of 63 elderly people participated in this study, with an average age of 88.3 years, 71% of whom were women. 35 of the 65 people are dementia patients, often accompanied by symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, depression, restlessness, anxiety, emotional loss, irritability and trance.
The study found that under static lighting conditions, the elderly experienced an average of 3.6 night sleep disturbances, but only 1.8 times under tunable lighting conditions. Bell said that based on the research team has assumed that such interference measures can have a positive effect on sleep, so the results of this study are not entirely unexpected.
In fact, the primary purpose of replacing the tunable lighting system in nursing homes was to save energy. However, the researchers believe this is a low-risk intervention to improve sleep quality. At the same time, as nursing homes adjust working hours and resources in response to the new coronavirus epidemic, the long-term care industry should focus on adopting such tunable lighting systems.
At present, the research results have been published in the "Seniors Housing and Care Journal". The long-term care industry considering the use of tunable lighting in other facilities can refer to the preliminary data of this study. (Compiled by LEDinside Janice)
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