Paper by deFiddesign on behalf of The
Brightwater Group entitled "Creating Enabling
Environments for Residential Aged Care".
aspects of our living environment. But how
does our perception of colour change as we
age and what impact does it have? How can
colour be used to create familiar, comforting
and safe environments for older people,
particularly those who have dementia? How
can colour enhance the quality of life for our
seniors and those who care for them? These
are just some of questions that as specialist
designers we are asking and researching.
effect on the individual. Key concepts are
explored including the importance of distinctive
visual cues; the ways that colour can be
used to prompt and how contrasting colours
can reduce confusion and be effective as a
way finding tool; how colour can facilitate
recognition, improve memory and boost
familiarity; the role of colour in evoking diverse
emotional responses and moods which in turn
affects performance and behavior; and how
colour can improve cognitive abilities and assist
in maintaining functional independence.
changes the perception of space. Colour
creates mood. Colour both stimulates and
calms. Colour is a powerful tool. Used wisely
it can have phenomenal results which we are
just beginning to understand in this industry.
nature of colour in aged care.
Michael Rosser, Matthew Lukjanenko, Alana
Kohn, Sharon Naismith, Henry Brodaty,
Michael Valenzuela
address the issue of efficacy but also key
clinical questions about dose-response
relationships. Several systematic reviews
suggest a potential role for computerised
cognitive training in preserving cognitive
function in late life yet at the same time have
identified many methodological limitations
that limit their clinical relevance. Furthermore,
there remains no evidence base about optimal
training design, content, expected timecourse
of cognitive gains across different cognitive
domains during training, or their putative
durability after stopping training.
double-blind, longitudinal, active-controlled
trial in 77 cognitively-intact older adults,
where domain-specific cognitive change was
assessed after 9 and 36 hours of supervised
computer-based multidomain cognitive training
program against an active control condition
(didactic computer-based learning), as well
as performance 3 weeks and 3 months after
training cessation.
effect size on global cognition of d=0.70
(Intention-to-Treat Repeated Measures Mixed
Model p =.005) immediately after 36 training
sessions, and d=0.54 at the 3-month follow up
(p=.028). The timecourse of training-induced