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NORDIC LIGHT & COLOUR
143
of the residents wanted to be in the room. The other architect
described her ideas when planning a new building. The colour
and light were used to facilitate way finding. The bottom floor
was painted in earth colour and yellow green. The higher up in
the building, the greener and lighter the walls became, and the
top floor was painted in blue colours symbolizing the heaven.
The idea was to inform and support the residents about their
position so that they could easily find their way around the
building.
Perspectives from the nursing home staff and nursing home
managers
Nor the nursing home staff or the nursing home managers
discussed colour and light in terms of inseparable and con-
nected to each other. The majority talked about colour and
light as separate parts of the environment even though they
found these to be both very important. Two nursing home staff
thought that colours could change and appear in different ways
depending on the light. If there were nice and pleasant colours
they could be perceived as warmer when the daylight came in.
The colour could also be perceived as more clear due to the
light. The staff and the managers had many thoughts and ideas
concerning persons with different disabilities such as demen-
tia or physical frailties. They worked a lot with adapting the
environment in order to facilitate for their residents in different
ways. They used both colour and light to support the older per-
sons in different situations and put a lot of focus on adapting
things like plates, bathroom fittings and devices.
Environmental and caring aspects in nursing home facilities
The informants discussed different aspects according to dif-
ferent groups of patients. They thought that different patient
groups had different kinds of needs and that it was not always
possible to satisfy all residents living in the same environment.
A majority did not believe that a nursing home should integrate
different patient groups such as older persons with cognitive
disabilities and persons with physical disabilities. According to
the physical environment it could sometimes be conflicting, for
example when using colour coding on the floors for persons
with visual disabilities. This could be a big problem for persons
with dementia as they perceive darker spots in the floor as a
hole. Some informants also commented that if the physical
environment is too bare and sterile to support persons with
dementia, this could have a negative impact on persons without
cognitive disabilities. But except from this, a majority thought
that older persons with different needs could share the same
environment. They discussed that most of the older persons
benefit from an environment with clear signage like colour
coding and adequate lighting. The problem was more related
to the care and the interactions and encounters between these
different groups.
Knowledge and experience
The architects included in this study had a lot of experience
from nursing home facilities. Except from their architectural
education they had taken extra courses within the field of car-
ing environment, and they had a lot of experience from their
work. Some of them had also been to conferences focusing on
this topic, and then took part of the latest research. The nurs-
ing home managers had academic education and they had both
been working many years within elderly care. They had also
got additional courses and learned more about for example
dementia. The nursing home staff was nurse assistants and
none of them had any academic education. Some of them
had worked for many years, and had experience from both
dementia care settings and nursing homes for elderly. One of
the nursing home staff members had worked with a project
concerning the physical environment for persons with demen-
tia focusing on colours in the environment.
When planning changes in the environment or buying new
items, they often had discussion in teams. Some of the infor-
mants pointed out that it can be problematic when several staff
members will take part of the decisions concerning colours
for example. Some of the informants also thought that colour
and light requires a lot of knowledge and education and that it
is not always successful to let the staff be part of the decision
procedure.
Discussion
The findings from this study show that the professionals work-
ing with nursing home facilities had a lot of reflections on the
use of and perceptions of colours and light in the environment.
The informants thought that it was important with colour and
light within the physical environment in nursing home facili-
ties. However, there were some variation among the differ-
ent professions according to the ideas of how to use colour
and light. The nursing home staff and managers had a lot of
knowledge about the group of persons with dementia and their
needs. They worked to a great extent with adapting things in
the physical environment in order to support and help the resi-
dents. They were focused on interior objects and details like
the colour of the porcelain plates, the cloths and curtains. They
used aids like coloured toilet seats, coloured tiles and coloured
plastic straps to increase the contrast between the fittings and
the background in order to make it easier for the residents
when using the physical environment. They thought that the
lighting was very important for the residents, especially in situ-
ations like dining. They also reported that it was important to
adjust the lighting according to the current activity.