Outdoor Spaces That Improve Wayfinding for Memory Care
We all get lost occasionally — even in familiar places. However, for residents of memory care communities, being lost can be an everyday occurrence. Finding one’s way around, commonly called wayfinding, is significantly diminished due to Alzheimer’s disease or forms of dementia.
While there are many ways to support memory ailments, space design is among the most effective. Adding visual cues to an environment increases people’s recall of spaces and helps them identify where they are. The power of space design is highlighted in the paper “Creating a Supportive Environment Using Cues for Wayfinding in Dementia” by Rebecca Davis, PhD, RN, Professor, and Catherine Weisbeck, PhD, MSW.
We’ll lean into their findings and show how outdoor furniture can significantly enhance wayfinding in memory care communities.
Understanding the Four Stages of Wayfinding
Wayfinding isn’t new. The phrase and process have existed for as long as humanity has traveled by land or water. City street signs and GPS systems are modern examples of wayfinding, just as compasses, maps, and even geographic features are traditional approaches.
The process of wayfinding comes down to four stages.
- Orientation: The need or desire to identify where you are in relation to other places.
- Route Decision: The act of selecting a course of travel from where you are to where you want to go.
- Route Monitoring: Checkpoints and other steps to ensure your route takes you to the correct spot.
- Destination Recognition: Identify a place so you know you have arrived.
Nothing about the stages of wayfinding is surprising, which may be why they are overlooked when creating an environment. Wayfinding is taken for granted. People assume others can find their way, but that may not be true.
People, especially memory care residents, depend on cues for efficient movement. Memory care communities should implement the concepts and support basic wayfinding needs. A great way to achieve this or correct shortcomings is the thoughtful inclusion of furniture pieces and other design elements.
Why Does Wayfinding Design Matter?
Memory care, senior living, and assisted living communities are rarely created for convenient wayfinding. They are modeled after spaces built for people with better cognitive abilities. Look no further than the hallways. They are long and repetitious, with non-distinctive decor creating similar-looking routes. Even the doorways are identical and evenly spaced along the corridors, offering no points of distinction.
Simply put, that is a flawed design approach for anyone — but it’s especially detrimental to memory care residents.
Interestingly, wayfinding is among the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia. Wayfinding challenges impact more than 50% of people with mild forms of Alzheimer’s disease. Those challenges fuel anxiety, distress, and decreased interaction with others.
Using Dementia-Friendly Furniture to Improve Wayfinding System Design
It’s not uncommon for memory care communities to have multiple outdoor areas. They can be used to meet all four stages of wayfinding (orientation, route decision, route monitoring, and destination recognition).
Good Wayfinding Starts with Intention and Definition
Rather than having three identical outdoor spaces, define each with a color and purpose. For example, the first space might be brown and intended for relaxing/lounging. The second space could be green and used for gardening or featuring outdoor gardens. The third space could be redwood and used for games, activities, and events.
Ultimately, what’s needed by residents are salient cues. Those are items that stand out, such as a large aquarium or color-coded door. Salient cues improve wayfinding visually and cognitively for everyone, especially people with dementia.
Quick Tips for Building Wayfinding
- Give each space a specific purpose
- Give each space a name
- Give each space a color
- Add a distinct feature or item to the space
Memory care residents will rely on the name, purpose, color, and key features to recognize each space to support their wayfinding needs.
Here’s how it helps in daily moments. Instead of asking a resident to stop by the patio, a staff person could say go to the green outdoor garden space. That subtle but dramatic change provides a resident with cues to support wayfinding.
The staff person could then go further, saying to walk past the brown lounge space until you get to the green outdoor garden space. Those color-coded inputs create additional clarity, support recollection, and improve wayfinding efforts.
How Can Memory Care Residence Amenities Benefit from Outdoor Furniture?
It’s one thing to define a space on paper; it’s another to make work in reality. Does By the Yard have the selection and product offering to create distinct spaces? Yes, it does.
Of course, funding is also an issue when upgrading or adding a space. Fortunately, many memory care communities have recreation or activity funds that can be used to enhance outdoor spaces. It’s wise to investigate those options whenever possible.
Now, let’s consider bringing the three spaces we discussed earlier to life: the lounge, garden, and activity spaces.
The Brown Lounge
Let’s create a space for residents to relax — and use as a navigation point. The first area we mentioned was a brown outdoor lounge space. Of course, it needs to be outfitted with appropriate outdoor furniture and accessories.
We’d suggest starting with By the Yard cushion chairs, ottomans, and sectionals, as well as gliders and benches. While popular, we do not recommend Adirondack chairs in memory care facilities. They are too low for many seniors to get in and out of safely. However, upright Adirondack chairs are a great alternative.
We also suggest avoiding rockers and swings, as movement may create a challenge.
In addition to seating, you will also want to add side tables, such as the Prairie end table or Cambridge coffee table.
No matter which items you choose for the outdoor space, all of them are available in brown to support a color coding initiative,
The Green Garden Lounge
It’s time to garden and give that outdoor area definition and purpose.
By the Yard has a portable potting bench, planter stand, elevated planter box, raised garden, garden arbor, tapered planter box, rectangular planter box, and square planter boxes.
That’s a lot of garden-specific items, plus storage boxes and other solutions for gardening gear.
What about color? No problem. By the Yard offers all of those options in green.
The Redwood Activity Patio
Interaction is crucial in memory care communities. Sharing and talking with others supports cognitive skills and mental well-being. For an activity space, you want to create places where residents can gather for games or enjoy conversations.
By the Yard items such as tete-a-tetes, cafe tables, dining tables, and dining-height chairs are perfect picks. You’ll also want to include a variety of table sizes to accommodate large groups (dining tables) and more personal interactions (cafe tables).
When it comes to colors, a lovely redwood supports our wayfinding goals.
A Note on How Color Supports Wayfinding and Memory Care Design
We chose brown, green, and redwood in our examples. When it comes to your community, the choices are up to you.
Pick colors that work for your space. There are no established standards for color-based wayfinding in memory care communities. However, we do suggest making sure the choices follow some best practices.
When picking colors, use tones that are distinct from each other. Remember, you want visually distinct furniture in form/function and color.
By the Yard offers fifteen color options. However, some of the options are similar, especially for seniors who may have deteriorating eyesight. For example, black and brown are similar when considering how far apart black and white or black and green appear to the eye.
While aesthetics are always important, make sure to choose colors that prioritize wayfinding first and foremost. Safety and function must be the highest priorities in senior living and memory care facilities.
Being Intentional with Outdoor Furniture Choices and Spaces Improves Wayfinding
We all use and rely on wayfinding. While signs are a great start, they are not enough—especially in senior living and memory care communities. It’s important to provide residents with as many cues, clues, and supports as possible to help them navigate. As we touched on, wayfinding challenges can create anxiety, distress, and isolation among seniors.
While wayfinding is essential, selecting high-quality outdoor furniture is also critical. In our customers’ experiences, investing once and doing it right the first time is more affordable. By the Yard, commercial outdoor furniture requires less ongoing maintenance, storage, replacement, and repairs.
How do we know? By the Yard works with thousands of commercial customers all over North America. Our expertise is deep, and our client list is broad, encompassing:
- Hotels
- Apartments
- Health clubs
- Golf courses
- Residential care and senior living facilities
- Universities
Learn more about By the Yard commercial outdoor furniture and its complete selection of seating, tables, and accessories. Please direct any questions to the By the Yard commercial sales or call (952) 219-7070 for immediate assistance during business hours.