Abstract
Imagine living in a place that you never leave. One that you live in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Imagine that place with deep spaces and long windowless corridors, requiring the lights to be on continually and where the air is pumped in to a steady hum of artificial systems, where the windows remain firmly closed. This finely controlled indoor world is one of unchanging constancy where artificial comfort control denies people the ability to react to the environmental stimuli that they were designed for. The human body is guided by five senses that help us interpret and respond to changing situations around us - sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. We need these senses to be engaged and regularly stimulated for us to feel alive and connected. If these senses are not properly actively used, they become unresponsive and useless and as a result people can become clinically depressed and unwell. Depression rates in nursing homes are high. If depression is not a natural part of ageing but an illness on its own it then begs the question considered in this study: How much does environmental stimuli affect behaviour, mood, energy levels, general health and sleep patterns?
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Sustainable Wellbeing Technology
