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At the Waterford, you'll find the freedom to create the lifestyleyou've always wanted. Each morning you'll awake to a colorful paletteof possibilities from which to paint your day. Enjoy the quiet, mutedtones of solitude in your spacious apartment, knowing friends and anattentive staff are close by. You'll always have a wealth of thingsto do right at your fingertips keeping you as active as you want tobe. The Waterford proudly presents a staff of experienced,detail-oriented professionals at your service. From our executivedirector to our culinary chef, to our housekeepers and wait staff,you'll find warm and friendly people truly concerned about you. TheWaterford offers you flexibility and options so you can paint yourdays with the colors of life (A Place for Mom, 2002).

With an environment that seems so appealing, why is there such anegative stigma placed on retirement homes/communities or nursinghomes? The idea of spending our retirement in a nursing home isperceived by our society as the most undesirable of options. Threeout of one hundred Americans over the age of 65 suffer fromdepression (National Institute of Mental Health, 2000). A study doneat the University of Rhode Island reported that 11% of the residentsin the nursing homes examined were suffering from depression (Brown,Lapane, & Luisi, 2002). Another study done at Columbia Universityreported that 44.2% of the nursing home residents tested showed somesymptom of depression with 14.4% of the residents experiencingserious depression (Teresi, Abrams, Holmes, Ramirez, & Eimicke,2001). Why is the depression rate among the elderly almost four timesgreater among those living in nursing homes? It could be the work ofchance in that many of the residents in nursing homes already have amental health problem that has made them unable to provide forthemselves. Having prior difficulties could make these residents moresusceptible to the normal adjustment problems that come along withrelocating to a new living environment. Or perhaps it is because theenvironments nursing homes create are not specifically geared towardsthe needs of the elderly. With about 5% of people over 65 living innursing homes this is a serious problem, whether the resident ishealthy or not, that should be demanding more attention (Hoyer,Rybash, & Roodin, 1999).

There are many factors that could contribute to depression amongthe aging including illness, loss of close family members, orfinancial problems. Unfortunately these are problems that areuncontrollable, but there are things that we can control that mayprovide a more agreeable environment for those living in nursinghomes or retirement communities. Perhaps if we did more toaccommodate the aging with an environment that is aestheticallypleasing and functional through color change, lighting, and spatialarrangement, the number of depression diagnoses would decrease amongthe elderly residing in retirement homes.

Through motion pictures and photographs we have some idea of whatit might be like to live in a world that is colored in shades ofgray. However, it would be much more difficult to imagine a worldwhere there were colors, but they were indistinguishable in manycases and shades of certain colors were nonexistent. It would besimilar to wearing glasses with yellow lenses. This is the type ofcolored world that many people progressively experience after the ageof forty caused by a condition called presbyopia. Presbyopia is anage-related illness caused by the hardening of the variable lens,which decreases the eyes' ability to accommodate (Goldstein, 2002).This hardening of the variable lens is caused by the death of cellsinside the lens with age. These dead cells cause visual images to beseen as if through a yellow lens. The process occurs so graduallythat most people do not notice the colors and lights getting dimmer.This could be an explanation of why nursing homes are thought to beso drab by the elderly yet so pleasant to us (those unaffected yet).Rooms decorated in pastels or blues may seem to be just shades ofdirty gray to the aging. It has been shown in several studies thatthe colors in our surroundings affect our moods. A study done at theUniversity of Texas Division of Interior Design found that officecolors definitely influenced mood. Females indicated more depressionin white, gray, and beige offices while males reported moredepression in offices colored orange or purple (Kwallek, Lewis,Lin-Hsiao, and Woodson, 1996). Therefore, it would be safe to assumethat the drab colors seen by the aging in nursing homes mightnegatively affect their mental state. An effort should be made todecorate the interior in colors more suitable to the presbyopic eye,even though the combinations may not be as pleasing to the youngereye. Using colors that the residents actually see might increasepositive feelings towards the atmosphere and the home altogether.

Another factor in the retirement home environment that maycontribute to unhappiness among the elderly is illumination levels.Soft glowing lights create a pleasant atmosphere for those of usunaffected by vision deterioration, but for most of the residents,the low level of light can lead to a frustrating battle for clarity.Due to the normal aging process, the lens in our eye becomes lessable to accommodate and focus on objects in dimly lit surroundings.This makes it more difficult to do everyday tasks like read thenewspaper, watch television, or write a letter. Problems withlighting can cause anything from discomfort glare, which is adistracting glare that interferes with the physiological processesused in perception, to veiling reflections, which occurs when thelight partially or totally interferes with details by reducingcontrast (Hughes & Neer, 1981). Often, problems with vision are aconstant reminder of an aging body, and in many adults this is not asmooth or joyful process and can lead to depressive feelings. Byproviding appropriately lit surroundings, we might lessen theawareness of vision problems and aid in a decrease of depressivefeelings about old age. The best type of lighting to use would be afull-spectrum light that is able to resemble natural sunlight (Hughes& Neer, 1981). Not only would this type of lighting aid thoseresidents suffering from presbyopic symptoms but it also has beenfound to help regulate several physiological processes like VitaminD3 synthesis and cardiovascular regulation (Hughes & Neer, 1981).Hopefully, having an adequate light source would help the aging tofeel younger and lessen the negative feelings about growing old.Additionally, brighter lights make bright colors even brighter whichcould bring some color back into their world.

Along with specific color choices and lighting, spatialarrangement can improve the living environment in nursing homes forthe residents. Age-related vision problems can affect more than colorvision or illumination levels. There are several diseases that canalso affect peripheral vision, depth perception, and object size(Bennett & Eklund, 1983). For example, cataracts are caused byclouding in the variable lens and this influences how well the eye isable to measure depths in the environment. Cataracts occur in peopleover 65 almost 75 percent of the time (Goldstein, 2002). Anotherexample could be senile macular degeneration. This occurs when themacular area of the retina (contains the focusing element used indirect line of sight) begins to degenerate and your central vision isseriously impaired. This means that anything that you looked at inyour direct line of sight would not be there when you focused on itand could dramatically affect object size and depth perception.Because of these changes in vision it is important to arrange a room,especially the private rooms, in a way that is most comfortable andsuitable for the specific needs of the individual. Also because ofvisual problems, daily tasks may become more difficult, so the roomshould be arranged to make these tasks easier. By making thesedifficult tasks more manageable, it could give residents theirfeelings of independence back and help to curb emotions stemming fromtheir inability to be self-sufficient that might cause depression.Gerontechnology is an area of science aimed at managing these typesof problems. By developing technological devices that arespecifically designed for the home environment of an elderly person,they hope to provide a safer and more comfortable environment for theelderly (Pinto, De Medici, Van Sant, Bianchi, Zlotnicki, and Napoli,2000).

Current research explores the many areas included in color vision,illumination and spatial arrangement, but each on their own. Theredoes not seem to be any research regarding the specific needs of theelderly regarding environmental difficulties and whether thesedifficulties do in fact contribute significantly to their negativemental states. Perhaps if we were to explore deeper into theperceptive side of the nursing home stigma, we might be able to helpa greater portion of the aging in our community adapt to their newenvironment. With the percentage of people over 65 increasing everyyear and the life expectancy age increasing, more should be done toaccommodate them and make their retirement more enjoyable. Nursinghomes are made to appear appealing to the families of the potentialresident in order to solicit the families' approval. But it is inthis appeal that the problem lies. The arrangement of color andlighting in these communities does not take into consideration theeffects aging has on the perceptual processes. To take into accountthese perceptual problems would diminish the appeal to the youngergenerations trying to provide what they think is the best and mostcomfortable environment for their loved ones. In order for changes tobe made in these environments that would satisfy the needs of theelderly, the younger generations should be educated as to the effectsof aging. This education might lead to the changes in nursing homesthat are necessary to make the elderly more comfortable.

A Place For Mom (2002). The Waterford at deer park [ElectronicVersion]. Retrieved February 11, 2002, from www.aplaceformom.com/home.asp?content=search_housing.asp

Bennett, E.S. & Eklund, S.J. (1983). Vision changes,intelligence, and aging: I. Educational Gerontology. Vol 9(4),255-278.

Brown, M.N., Lapane, K.L., & Luisi, A.F. (2002). Themanagement of depression in older nursing home residents. Journal ofthe American Geriatrics Society. Vol 50(1), 69-76.

Goldstein, B.E. (2002). Sensation and perception. (6th Ed.)Wadsworth Group.

Hoyer, W.J., Rybash, J.M., & Roodin, P.A. (1999). Adultdevelopment and aging. McGraw-Hill College.

Hughes, P.C., & Neer, R.M. (1981). Lighting for the elderly: apsychobiological approach to lighting. Human Factors. Vol 23(1),65-85.

Kwallek, N., Lewis, C.M., Lin-Hsiao, J.W.D., & Woodson, H.(1996). Effects of nine monochromatic office interior colors onclerical tasks and worker mood. Color Research & Application. Vol21(6), 448-458.

National Institute for Mental Health (2000). Depression is a wholebody disorder [Electronic Version]. Retrieved February 12,2002, from www.nimh.nih.gov/

Pinto, M.R., De Medici, S., Van Sant, C., Bianchi, A., Zlotnicki,A., & Napoli, C. (2000). Ergonomics, gerontechnology, and designfor the home environment. Applied Ergonomics. Vol 31(3), 317-322.

Teresi, J., Abrams, R., Holmes, D., Ramirez, M., & Eimicke, J.(2001). Prevalence of depression and depression recognition innursing homes. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology. Vol36 (12), 613-620.