the mental health & dementia facilities magazine October 2026 Designing dementia environments for independence and wellbeing Inch Interiors Seeing things differently The role of lighting in dementia-friendly environments Wayfinding that works Creating clearer, calmer healthcare environments
Primary focus The control of light frequencies whilst maintaining a 92CRI Blue-enriched light enhances alertness and emotional wellbeing during the day. Blue-depleted light supports melatonin production which improves sleep quality when used in the evening. Primary focus The control of colour temperature (purely aesthetic) Mimics the changing colour temperature of daylight. (Non-visible blue light is still present) Limited influence on melatonin levels Limited impact upon alertness and sleep Human-centric lighting MelaGen® Active MelaGen® Regen MelaGen® Calm MelaGen® is our science-backed, circadian lighting solution, developed to help people feel more awake during the day and rest more easily at night. Unlike tunable white lighting that only shifts between warm and cool tones, MelaGen® is engineered to optimise the Melanopic/Photopic (M/P) ratio. By adjusting blue light exposure automatically across the day, MelaGen® lighting supports healthier sleep cycles, improves moods and encourages calmer environments. Healthier sleep, calmer days. MelaGen® Active delivers 4200K blue-enriched light. In the morning and through the afternoon, it emits a brighter, blue-enriched light that helps people feel awake and focused. MelaGen® Regen offers a combination of both, automatically transitioning from MelaGen® Active to MelaGen® Calm 3 hours before sleep, emulating sunset. MelaGen® Calm provides a blue-depleted spectrum at 2200K. In the evening, it softens to a warmer tone with depleted blue light content, calming the body and encouraging sleep. 01787 881191 info@lightyearsahead.co.uk www.lightyearsahead.co.uk Get in touch
mhdf magazine 3 Graven Hawthorn House © Renzo Mazzolini Contents 5 News A round-up of the latest news, projects and developments from across the mental health and dementia design sector. 10 Interview – Inch Interiors As demand for better dementia care grows, editor Helen Adkins talks to Lynsey Hutchinson and Gayle Henry of Inch Interiors about designing environments that support independence, reduce distress and work better for the people who use them. Editor’s note October 2026 Interior designing for dementia Dementia care environments need to work on many levels at once. They must be safe and practical, but they also need to support independence, familiarity and a sense of reassurance. In this issue, we look at how different elements of the built environment can contribute to that experience. In our interview on page 10, Lynsey Hutchinson and Gayle Henry from Inch Interiors discuss the thinking behind dementia-friendly interiors and the importance of designing spaces around the people who use them. Their approach looks beyond finishes and furniture to consider how layout, colour, familiarity, sensory experience and everyday routines can influence the way a space feels and functions. It is a useful reminder that good dementia design is not about applying a fixed formula, but about creating environments that respond to the needs of residents, staff and families. Elsewhere, we look at two other elements that can have a significant impact on the experience of care. Our lighting feature on page 15 considers how daylight, circadian systems, intelligent sensors and simple controls can support orientation, sleep and comfort, while, on page 18, Andy Simpson examines the role of signage and wayfinding in creating clearer, more accessible healthcare environments. Together, the features underline the value of thoughtful, joined-up design in shaping places that are easier to understand and more comfortable to use. Ultimately, it is often the cumulative effect of these considered design decisions that makes the greatest difference to daily life. Helen Adkins Editor Helen.Adkins@stable-media.co.uk the mental health & dementia facilities magazine Publishers Stable Publishing Limited SBC House, Restmor Way Wallington, Surrey SM6 7AH, England. t. 020 8288 1080 e. sales@healthcaredm.co.uk healthcaredm.co.uk Editor Helen Adkins Production Nicola Cann Design Sandra Leal Cid Media Sales Manager Terry Stafford Head of Sales Julian Walter Managing Director Toby Filby The publishers do not necessarily agree with views expressed by contributors and cannot accept responsibility for claims made by manufacturers and authors, nor do they accept any responsibility for any errors in the subject matter of this publication. 15 Wayfinding – The power of signage Andy Simpson, director at FASTSIGNS Leeds, looks at how thoughtful signage, wayfinding and environmental graphics can reduce anxiety, improve accessibility and help create clearer, more welcoming healthcare environments. 18 Lighting – Lighting the way in dementia care Good lighting can help people with dementia understand and navigate their surroundings. We look at how circadian systems, intelligent sensors, daylight and simple controls can support orientation, comfort, sleep and independence in care settings. 10 5 15 18
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mhdf magazine 5 NEWS Burnham sets out vision for universal social care Prime Minister Andy Burnham has set out plans for a universal social care service in England that would be free at the point of use, with detailed proposals expected to form part of Labour’s next general election manifesto. Speaking as the Labour Party conference opened in Liverpool, Burnham said the future system would be based on the principle that everyone contributes and everyone is covered. However, he said the precise funding model had yet to be determined and would be informed by Baroness Louise Casey’s Independent Commission on Adult Social Care. Burnham said social care reform would be a major priority for his government and that he wanted to make significant progress before the next general election in 2029. Although no specific proposals for the care estate have yet been announced, a move towards a universal system could have longer-term implications for the way social care services are commissioned and delivered, including residential care, supported living and community-based provision. For the dementia care sector, future reforms could also influence the type and location of facilities required as health and social care services become more closely integrated. However, details of the proposed National Care Service, including its funding, structure and implications for providers, have yet to be set out. The government is expected to develop its proposals alongside the work of the Independent Commission on Adult Social Care before setting out the final model.• Crown Care Group home planned for Keighley A development site in Keighley, West Yorkshire, with planning consent for a 78-bedroom care home, has been sold to Crown Care Group. The 1.4-acre site, to the south-west of Keighley town centre, was identified for care development by Senang Developments and secured planning consent in January 2026. The proposed scheme will provide 78 en-suite wetroom bedrooms alongside communal facilities, including lounge and dining areas, a bistro, cinema, activity room, and hair and nail salon, plus a sensory room, terraces and landscaped gardens. The site is located in an established residential area close to the town centre and local high street. Construction is expected to start immediately, with completion forecast for late 2027. The acquisition adds to Crown Care Group’s pipeline of care home developments and comes amid continued demand for new care provision across the North of England. Thomas Shelbourn, founder of Senang Developments, said the scheme would bring much-needed care beds to Keighley and create around 80 jobs for local people. The project has been designed by Plan5 Architects. Sara Hartill, director and head of healthcare development and investment at Christie & Co, which handled the sale, said: ‘The strong level of interest generated for the Keighley opportunity, including several offers, highlights the growing appetite for healthcare development across the North.’ The site was sold for an undisclosed price. •
6 mhdf magazine NEWS Care home development remains critical as operators plan growth Care home development will remain critical to meeting future demand, with more than half of operators planning to acquire another home within the next 12 months, according to Christie & Co’s Care Market Review 2026. The specialist business property adviser found that 52% of operators surveyed are looking to expand, while 69% of providers reported occupancy levels of 90% or above, underlining continued demand for care home beds. Christie & Co also reported sustained interest in the land and development market, particularly for well-located sites with planning consent. Despite ongoing planning and construction challenges, the company expects to transact around 1,200 consented and new-to-market care home beds by the end of 2026. The report suggests that operators are also placing greater emphasis on the long-term performance of their estates. Some 43% now have an ESG strategy in place, up from 33% in 2025, while two-thirds plan to develop or enhance their approach over the next 12 months. Measures include improving energy efficiency, investing in renewable technologies and supporting staff wellbeing and resident outcomes. Investment appetite for UK healthcare real estate remains strong. More than £12bn of transactions were recorded in 2025, which Christie & Co described as a record year for the market. Overseas capital continues to play a significant role, with US investors accounting for more than two-thirds of foreign investment over the past five years. Transaction data for the first half of 2026 also showed strong buyer demand, with an average of more than five offers received per instruction and deals achieving an average of 97% of asking price. Small and medium-sized operators with between three and 19 homes accounted for 38% of completed transactions. However, cost pressures continue to shape investment decisions. Average local authority fee uplifts for 2026/27 range from 4.3 to 5.1% across Great Britain, while the proportion of operators receiving increases of more than 5%fell from 31%in 2025 to 22% this year. Richard Lunn, managing director – care at Christie & Co, said: ‘The care sector has continued to show positive momentum over the past year. We’re seeing strong interest from buyers, investors and lenders, alongside improving operational performance for many providers.’ He added that workforce retention and local authority funding remain key challenges, but said the overall market picture remains ‘resilient and ambitious’.•
mhdf magazine 7 NEWS A dementia-friendly apartment designed for Lady Helen Stewart has become the first in mainland Europe to receive Gold Dementia Design Audit Accreditation from the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre. The Lake Geneva apartment, home to Lady Helen and former Formula 1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart, has been redesigned to support independence and allow Lady Helen to remain at home as her dementia progresses. Professor Lesley Palmer, professor of ageing and dementia at the University of Stirling, worked with Lausanne-based Fiona Pia Architects on the project, advising on the design and interiors. The redesigned apartment incorporates a range of dementia-friendly features, including low-level kitchen counters, a transparent and accessible fridge and open cabinetry, plus front-facing clothing storage and materials chosen to support orientation and create a calmer environment. Other interventions include dedicated lighting for personal items, level access between inside and outside spaces and discreetly integrated clinical, cleaning and disinfection areas. Private medical spaces have also been created for Lady Helen and her care providers. The scheme was developed using the Dementia Services Development Centre’s Environments for Ageing and Dementia Design Assessment Tool, an evidencebased framework intended to support the creation of more dementia-friendly environments across residential, public and commercial settings. Sir Jackie Stewart said the redesign would allow his wife to live as comfortably as possible while receiving the support she needs. Lady Helen was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2012. The Stewart family has worked with the University of Stirling for more than a decade on dementia-friendly adaptations across its properties.• Dementia-friendly apartment wins DSDC Gold accreditation Ravencourt launches interactive dementia clock in UK Assistive technology specialist Ravencourt has become the exclusive UK distributor of the Idem Digital Dementia Clock, designed to support people living with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive conditions. The Lincolnshire-based company has partnered with Canadian developer Eugeria to supply the product to care homes, NHS organisations, local authorities, charities and other health and social care providers across the UK. The clock connects to a dedicated app, allowing family members, friends and professional carers to send messages, reminders and updates directly to the display. It can also provide medication reminders, calendar notifications and other prompts intended to help users maintain daily routines. Ravencourt said the product is designed to support greater independence and reassurance for people living with cognitive impairment, both at home and in residential care settings. David Bordeleau, CPO/CTO at Idem and Eugeria, said: ‘Expanding to the UK was an important step for us, and we wanted to take it with the right people.’ Ravencourt already supplies assistive technology products to organisations including Alzheimer’s Society, Cardiff City Council and Amplius.•
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mhdf magazine 9 PREVIEW As demand for mental health and dementia services continues to grow, so too does the need for environments that actively support recovery, wellbeing and resilience. The quality of the built environment is increasingly recognised as a critical factor in improving patient outcomes, enhancing staff wellbeing and delivering more person-centred models of care. Against this backdrop, the mental health & dementia facilities forum (mhdf) returns to The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Warwickshire, bringing together leaders from across healthcare, estates, design, and construction and facilities management in order to explore the future of mental health and dementia environments. The forum will provide a platform for NHS leaders, healthcare providers, architects, estates teams, contractors, designers, facilities managers and specialist suppliers to examine the challenges and opportunities facing the sector. Through keynote presentations, case studies and collaborative discussions, delegates will explore how the built environment can better support both service users and staff. THIS YEAR’S THEME Our theme, Environments that promote mental wellbeing, recovery and resilience, reflects a growing understanding that healthcare environments are far more than simply places where treatment occurs. From inpatient facilities and community settings to dementia care environments and therapeutic outdoor spaces, the design and operation of buildings play an important role in supporting dignity, reducing stress, improving safety and promoting recovery. Key areas of discussion will include: • Therapeutic design • Trauma-informed environments • The role of nature and biophilic design and workforce wellbeing • Inclusive and neurodiverse environments • The transformation of existing estates to meet future healthcare demands • How innovation, sustainability and evidence-based design can help create safer, more effective and more resilient environments ATTEND MHDF AS A SUPPLIER Over one-and-half days, you’ll benefit from a tailored schedule of one-to-one meetings with your chosen mhdf project delegates made up of the architects, contractors, project managers and consultants delivering projects in the UK. What’s included: • One-to-one scheduled meetings • An all-inclusive package (accommodation and meals) • Access to all the speaker sessions Contact Leslie de Hoog at: leslie.dehoog@stable-events.co.uk ATTEND MHDF AS A COMPLIMENTARY PROJECT DELEGATE Join us as our guest at the forum and learn about the latest trends and developments in the sector. The event comprises of thought-provoking seminars, and the opportunity to meet manufacturers and suppliers to find out about innovative products and services. In addition, we will provide one to two nights’ accommodation, including all meals and refreshments, plus a drinks receptions and a gala dinner, giving you extensive networking opportunities. For further information and registration details, visit www.mhdf-forum.co.uk. The 2026 mental health and dementia facilities forum will explore how healthcare environments can support recovery, wellbeing and resilience through better design, innovation and collaboration Environments that promote mental wellbeing, recovery and resilience Golf day – 23 November Attend our dedicated Golf Day, providing delegates, speakers and industry partners with an informal networking opportunity ahead of the main conference programme. 24-25 November 2026 The Belfry Hotel & Resort Warwickshire
10 mhdf magazine INTERVIEW INCH interiors As demand for better dementia care grows, editor of mhdf magazine Helen Adkins talks to Lynsey Hutchinson and Gayle Henry, INCH Interiors, about designing dementia environments that support independence, reduce distress and work better for the people who use them Helen Adkins: INCH Interiors launched earlier this year as part of INCH Architecture + Design, the social enterprise architecture, design and research practice founded in 2012. Can you briefly tell us about your background and what led you to this role? Lynsey Hutchinson: I studied interior design at the Glasgow School of Art, and initially worked in corporate office and workplace design, and then hospitality and social community spaces. I moved to a large design practice in Glasgow called Graven and latterly started working on larger-scale council projects, designing care homes, children’s homes, daycare centres and drop-in centres for the likes of Alzheimer Scotland. That led me to the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) at the University of Stirling. I worked there for ten years advising on design for dementia and auditing buildings using our Environments for Ageing and Dementia Design Assessment Tool. Following that, I realised that I wanted to get back into practice and use that experience to start designing interiors again. I joined INCH Architecture + Design in November 2025. My role is to develop the interiors division with a specialism in design for ageing and care. I worked closely with Gayle Henry at the DSDC. She’s a registered general nurse (RGN) with a background in mental health nursing, care homes and dementia care strategies. We very much believe that care and the environment should go hand in hand. What does INCH Interiors bring that is different, and how does combining interior design, architecture, clinical expertise and research change the way you approach a project? LH: There are architectural practices and interior designers doing healthcare interiors and aged care, but I think what sets us apart is that we’re a team of designers, architects, care professionals and researchers, bringing those areas of expertise together to give more of a holistic design and care package. Gayle Henry: Even in care facilities, they don’t always follow dementia-design guidelines and then run into problems and end up doing things retrospectively. You can go into some really new care L to R: Gayle Henry and Lynsey Hutchinson
mhdf magazine 11 INTERVIEW homes that look absolutely amazing, but when you understand ageing and dementia design principles, you can see where problems are going to arise. There was one brand-new care home in East Dunbartonshire. They spent a lot of money on it, but they had a piano in the foyer that played itself. How confusing is that to someone? When you’re designing specifically for people living with dementia or neurodiversity, what are the key principles you start with? LH: Familiarity is key. Tonal contrast is also really important for safety as people with visual impairments, which can include people living with dementia or simply people with ageing eyes, can find it more difficult to perceive colour and depth. Contrasting the wall strongly with the floor helps people see where the floor ends and the wall begins. A contrasting handrail against a wall can similarly help someone navigate a corridor. GH: Noise and acoustics are also important. Noise can be a big contributing factor to stress and distressed behaviour. You can have large areas with lots of people dining together, ask themselves: Do I know those people? Do I want to join in? Light is another key consideration. We want to maximise natural light, but it also has to be managed because glare can be a real issue. The ageing eye takes longer to adjust between different light levels, so moving from bright sunlight into a dark corridor can increase the risk of trips and falls. GH: Light also promotes the circadian rhythm and can affect sundowning symptoms. Keeping the circadian rhythm as natural as possible can help reduce those symptoms. What about colour? There always seem to be different views about whether interiors should use bright or muted colours in these environments. LH: There’s not masses of research into how colour itself impacts people. It’s >> music playing in one corridor and a TV on elsewhere. People can’t always filter that out. Even people who don’t have dementia but have hearing impairments can find it extremely frustrating. As an advanced nurse practitioner going into care facilities, I found that a lot of stress behaviours and residenton-resident aggression occurred at mealtimes or when people were gathered in large open spaces. LH: Acoustic flooring, ceilings and artwork can help absorb reverberation, making it easier for people to hear one another and hold conversations. Visual access is also important. Rather than narrow corridors with a series of closed doors, glazed panels can enable someone approaching a room to see what is happening inside and decide if they want to enter that room. They can Graven Hawthorn House © Renzo Mazzolini (and main image) Brain Health and Dementia Resource Centre © Clark James Digital
12 mhdf magazine INTERVIEW very subjective. What is more important is the light reflectance value (LRV), which tells you how much light is reflected off a surface. RNIB recommends a 30-point contrast between elements that need to be clearly distinguished. Tone matters more than colour because it is the light-dark difference that helps people read a space safely. You might have a red toilet seat and a blue floor and assume they contrast because they’re different colours. But if their LRVs are too close together, a person with a visual impairment may not be able to distinguish the toilet seat from the floor. You also need to be careful with muted colours because colour perception diminishes as our eyes age. A lovely pastel-blue calming interior might look beautiful to us, but the blue-to-violet part of colour perception is the first to be lost in the ageing eye, while yellows and reds are the last. Gayle, how does your clinical background feed into the design work? GH: I have worked in care homes and palliative care for around 30 years. What we found was that there can be an interface between design, functionality and clinical requirements. We’re able to look at something and say: ‘Well, this looks really good, but is it functional?’ I understand the practicalities of caring for people who are ageing, frail and may have dementia. It’s about balancing the design and making sure that it works for the person. I can also carry out individual assessments. If someone wants bespoke adaptations to their home, we can look at what they need from a physical and cognitive perspective and marry that up with the design principles. Do you think dementia design is becoming a priority for care providers, or is it still regarded as a ‘nice to have’? GH: I think providers are aware of the principles, but they don’t necessarily implement them really well. At the end of the day, care homes are predominantly businesses. They look nice so that they attract high-end residents because that generates income. Quite often, even though an environment looks really fancy, it isn’t always functional and can actually cause distress. The research has demonstrated that environment can play a huge role. Behaviours that can cause people to be evicted from care homes can sometimes be remedied with environmental tweaks. LH: A lot of care homes are still following this fashion for designing them like five-star hotels. A lot of it is aimed at the families of the people going into the care home. It’s not necessarily being designed for the people who are actually going to live there. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous. We helped clients who had been told by a professional to remove around £16,000 worth of patterned curtains, even though they hadn’t experienced any issues with them. We need to look at the individual situation. If patterned curtains are causing someone distress, find out why. Is it the pattern? Are they blocking light? Is it glare? There may be a number of reasons, so you need to look at it more holistically. One thing we are wary of is design that tries to recreate something that isn’t actually there. We always advise that everything should have a function. We’ve audited buildings with fake post boxes, fake telephone boxes and bus stops, and trompe l’oeil murals that try to make something two-dimensional look threedimensional. Our question was, why are we trying to make things more difficult for visually impaired people and people with Brain Health and Dementia Resource Centre © Clark James Digital Graven Hawthorn House © Renzo Mazzolini (and above right)
mhdf magazine 13 INTERVIEW cognitive impairments to understand? I visited a daycare centre where they had wallpaper depicting a fake bookcase. During an online audit I recommended replacing it with a real bookcase because it would be three-dimensional, functional, familiar and could actually be used as an activity or talking point. When we revisited the centre, they’d not removed the wallpaper but had put a real bookcase in front of the fake one, so you had this weird 2D/3D effect, which would be incredibly difficult for someone with problems with depth perception to understand. There was also a trend for using images of residents’ former front doors on their bedroom doors. It might help somebody find their door, but then they open it expecting their former home and instead find an unfamiliar bedroom and en suite. You have to think about what that experience means to the individual. GH: We have these principles, but people are individuals. If you have the knowledge and understand the principles, you can adapt them for that individual. This isn’t a cure-all for every aspect of dementia. Cognitive decline can reach a point where whatever you put in place will have limitations. But we can prolong independence and engagement with the environment and with other people. We’ve had really good success with small adaptations to people’s homes that don’t cost a fortune. Can you talk briefly about a recent project that you’re particularly proud of? LH: We recently worked with Dementia Vision, a small start-up social enterprise, on a series of icons for a signage system. We helped make sure the icons were dementia-inclusive in terms of contrast and the pictograms themselves, so they were intuitive and easily recognisable. We also advised on using text alongside pictograms, sentence case and sans serif fonts to improve legibility. It seems like a very small intervention, but it made a huge impact. We often talk about lowcost but high-impact design interventions. As a not-for-profit organisation ourselves, we want to work with like-minded people and help other organisations pro bono where we can. GH: The people who don’t have the resources are probably the ones who really need it the most. Sometimes I can give a social worker or care organisation very simple advice like take a sheet of paper, write something legibly and put a sign up. Something that simple can help. As Britain’s population ages, how will care environments need to evolve over the next ten or 20 years? GH: Inclusivity and cultural inclusivity will be big issues. Things that are familiar to people from one culture aren’t necessarily familiar to people from another. LH: There are also so many more people with dementia and not enough care facilities or bed spaces being built. I think the people who eventually end up in care homes will increasingly be at later stages of dementia, so we will have to design differently for those needs. GH: Being able to keep people at home for longer with smaller adaptations is really important. It reduces demand for beds and can reduce carer burnout, which is a major reason for people going into facilities. LH: In terms of care-home design, there has been a move towards larger homes and larger households. We recommend households of ten people or fewer. The DSDC research informed us that no more than ten people with dementia should dine together at any one time. Rather than having huge multi-purpose open-plan areas, providing a series of smaller rooms gives people choice and allows you to control acoustics, lighting and stimuli more easily. In this way, people can decide: Do I want to get involved in that activity? Does it suit me? Can I go somewhere else and do something different? I think providing more small spaces is going to become increasingly important. • About INCH Interiors INCH Interiors is the interiors arm of INCH Architecture + Design, a Glasgow-based social enterprise architecture, design and research practice founded in 2012 by architect Lesley Palmer and Alisdair Clements. Palmer is also Professor of Ageing and Dementia Design at the University of Stirling. The wider practice works across architecture, community projects, housing, care and research, with a strong emphasis on social value and inclusive design. INCH Interiors was formally launched in 2026, bringing specialist interior design expertise in dementia, neurodiversity and inclusive environments into the wider architectural practice. The practice won UK Architect of the Year 2024 for delivering social value, and this year has been shortlisted for its Parklea Community project in the RIBA Journal 2026 MacEwen Awards. www.inch-architecture.co.uk Broomhill Gardens © Keith Hunter
14 mhdf magazine ADVERTORIAL For over two decades, Polar NE have innovated when it comes to windows and doors. Now, they’ve yet again been trusted to deliver on a major project. A £65m renovation will transform Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust’s Lynfield Mount Hospital, and Polar NE will install over 150 reduced-ligature windows and doors – without stepping foot in Yorkshire. Instead, the work will be completed over 300 miles away at a factory in Lisburn, near Belfast. Modular construction has only been used sparingly to revamp an NHS hospital. Each living room-sized unit will be fitted with Polar’s unique, specialist products at the factory before being shipped across the Irish Sea. The ambitious project is another vote of confidence in Polar NE’s expertise. The Middlesbrough-based business has long held a glowing reputation for crafting bespoke windows and door solutions to complex problems. This huge project is no different. Modular construction is increasingly seen as a safer, faster and more controlled approach but has rarely been successfully applied to an NHS mental health hospital on this scale. Led by main contractor McAvoy Group, the Lynfield Mount redevelopment will utilise the firm’s innovative Polar Trent windows, a range specifically designed for areas that don’t require natural airflow, focussing solely on natural light. Additionally, 36 Humber Two windows – Polar’s most popular solution – will also be installed. The evolved Humber Two boasts smaller sightlines, allowing for increased light transmittance and increased airflow. They are safer and more secure. Lynfield Mount is the latest collaboration between Polar NE and P+HS Architects, underlining the ongoing trust placed in Polar NE to push boundaries, solve complex challenges and deliver innovative solutions across the mental health sector. • www.polarne.co.uk ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Polar NE joins the future of innovation The Polar team
mhdf magazine 15 WAYFINDING Despite wayfinding signage being one of the most important visual communications tools in today’s often busy, overstimulating world, it is sometimes viewed as a tick-box exercise – the perfect graphic design opportunity to make spaces look nicer. Having recently worked with children’s cancer charity Candlelighters and graphic design agency Scamp Creative, to transform the Children’s Radiotherapy, Haematology and Oncology Departments at St James’ Hospital, I’ve seen first-hand how profound the impact of thoughtful design can be. Here, we have seen how young patients and their families react to a brightened space, reinforcing our company’s belief that wayfinding is not merely graphic design but an essential component of compassionate patient care. We’ve all been there. Arriving at a hospital, whether as a patient or visitor, can be overwhelming. The sheer size of the building, identical-looking corridors and clinical surroundings can heighten anxiety and make the prospect of getting lost particularly stressful. In these moments of vulnerability, clear navigation, alongside warm, welcoming colour palettes, plays a significant role in bringing about a sense of ease, which can help to lower cortisol levels and mitigate panic. A well-designed environment can help reduce anxiety before a patient has even interacted with a clinician. Getting the design right, therefore, isn’t simply about aesthetics. It is also about considering the effect a cold, impersonal environment can have on someone who may already be feeling anxious or distressed. DESIGNING FOR ALL When a healthcare facility feels cold, intimidating or clinical, it can trigger immediate anxiety, spatial confusion, psychological stress and cognitive fatigue for patients of all ages, but particularly children, older people or neurodivergent individuals. Transforming over 300 square metres of hospital space, alongside the Candlelighters team, taught us that replacing sterile spaces with human warmth requires looking at the environment through the eyes of the patient. Walk into any hospital or GP surgery in the UK and you’ll notice a common theme – that standard signage is almost always positioned for adults walking at eye level, with very little thought given to how children or patients transported on trolleys view their surroundings. When a patient is lying on their back, their immediate environment shrinks to whatever sits directly above them, thus rendering traditional wall signage almost useless. In those high-anxiety >> Andy Simpson, director at FASTSIGNS Leeds, looks at how thoughtful wayfinding and environmental graphics can reduce anxiety, improve accessibility and create more welcoming healthcare environments The power of signage
16 mhdf magazine WAYFINDING moments, looking up at blank tiles or overhanging medical equipment might only heighten those feelings. By installing bespoke ceiling graphics in treatment rooms, it is possible to shift focus away from daunting medical machinery towards reassuring nature scenes for the young patients awaiting treatment. Impersonal space also heightens fear, whereas interactive and thoughtful design actively alleviates it. At St James’ Hospital we have incorporated Scamp Creative’s playful wall illustrations, such as animals and butterflies, which were designed for children to spot and count. It helps to provide vital visual distraction before, during and after procedures, some of which can last for several hours. The project spanned far beyond treatment rooms alone, encompassing teenage chill-out zones and recovery spaces, to make sure patients of every age feel seen and cared for. Delivering this transformation within an active healthcare setting presented significant logistical challenges, which – together with a fit-out company – saw us installing durable graphics, cabinetry, flooring and mood lighting across active wards. This project required working in tightly coordinated phases during scheduled downtime, alongside up to seven volunteers at once alongside key material suppliers, all to guarantee zero disruption to radiotherapy, haematology and oncology treatments. SOFTENING ISN’T SACRIFICING One of the most important learnings we took away from this project was that softening a cold space does not mean sacrificing clarity. Pairing crisp, accessible typography with gentle, welcoming colour palettes allowed us to eliminate harsh, clinical sterility while keeping wayfinding clear for families. True accessibility is about balancing function with feeling. High-contrast directional markers ensure no one loses their way, while matte finishes, biophilic graphics and warmer tones reduce harsh reflections and ease sensory overload. At the end of the day, a hospital sign can meet important safety rules, while still feeling like a warm, welcoming guide rather than a cold, sterile warning. RELIEVING OPERATIONAL STRAIN Besides the obvious benefits to patients and visitors, this approach also provides advantages for hospital staff and the daily operational flow of a hospital. Warm, clear entry markers immediately ease reception lines by preventing frantic arrival delays. When paired with intuitive pathways, nervous patients and parents can navigate complex departments with confidence, significantly reducing missed appointments and keeping clinical schedules running smoothly. Most importantly, when environmental design guides and comforts visitors autonomously, nurses and doctors spend far less time giving directions or reassuring lost families, allowing them to focus their energy on direct patient care. THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE SIGNAGE Signage must never be treated as a tick-box exercise but as part of the overall strategy, and used as a tool for empathy. High-quality, thoughtful design can help transform a traditionally cold medical environment into an inviting, human-centric experience. When health organisations prioritise intuitive, compassionate visual spaces, they’re actively building clinical safety, patient trust and emotional wellbeing. And that’s a future we need to lean into. • www.fastsigns.co.uk www.scampcreative.co.uk www.candlelighters.org.uk ‘Signage must never be treated as a tickbox exercise but as part of the overall strategy, and used as a tool for empathy’ Core healthcare signage essentials: • DDA and accessibility compliance throughout • Emergency directory and hazardous material notices • Sanitisation signage • Wayfinding and identification • Departmental directories • Multilingual signage • Floor markers and clear room identification • Quiet zone signage Out-of-the-box innovations: • Biophilic wall graphics to support recovery and wellbeing • Dementia-friendly landmarks (symbols rather than letters) • Motivational prompts or quotes (words of encouragement for taking the stairs over a lift) • Gratitude and milestone celebration stations • QR code navigation for personal devices • Interactive kiosks and dynamic waiting displays • Dynamic lighting • ‘What to expect’ infographics
18 mhdf magazine LIGHTING For people living with dementia, lighting can influence much more than the ability to see. From supporting orientation and safer movement to reinforcing day and night, developments in circadian, sensorbased and intelligent lighting are giving designers and care providers new tools to work with. But the fundamentals of good dementia design remain just as important. Lighting has a particularly important role to play in dementia care. Agerelated changes to vision mean older people generally need more light, while dementia can affect the way a person interprets what they see. Poor illumination, glare, reflections and deep shadows can make an environment harder to understand and potentially increase confusion or the risk of falls. NHS guidance recommends lighting that is bright, even and as natural as possible, with particular attention paid to reducing glare, shadows and reflections. It also highlights the importance of good lighting on stairs and in bathrooms, while bedrooms should be capable of becoming dark at night to support sleep. That combination of good daytime visibility and lower light levels at night is also driving interest in lighting that changes over a 24-hour cycle. FOLLOWING THE DAY Circadian or human-centric lighting generally alters both intensity and colour temperature through the day, providing brighter, cooler light during active periods and warmer, lower-level lighting towards evening. Light plays an important role in regulating the body’s sleep-wake cycle and people living in residential care can receive relatively little exposure to strong natural daylight. Research has associated inadequate light exposure with disruption to activity rhythms and behavioural and psychological symptoms in people with dementia. The evidence should not, however, be overstated. Studies of light interventions in dementia have produced varying results and outcomes depend on factors including intensity, timing and duration. For specifiers, circadian lighting is therefore best considered as one part of a wider dementia-friendly environment rather than as a standalone solution. A UK example can be found at Sycamores care home in Leamington Spa, operated by WCS Care. Commercial Lighting retrofitted an automated circadian lighting system into the existing building using tunable-white LED fittings and wireless Bluetooth mesh controls. Good lighting can play an important role in helping people with dementia understand and navigate their surroundings. From circadian systems and intelligent sensors to daylight and simple controls, we look at how lighting design can support orientation, comfort, sleep and independence in care settings Lighting the way in dementia care Nobi pendant lamps
mhdf magazine 19 LIGHTING The lighting shifts between warmer and cooler colour temperatures through the day, while residents retain straightforward switches in their bedrooms and staff can override the system when required. WCS Care reports reductions in daytime sleeping and improvements in resident interaction and mood following the installation. These are findings reported by the care provider rather than an independent clinical trial, but the results encouraged WCS Care to extend the approach elsewhere. The project also demonstrates the potential for retrofit. Wireless controls allowed the system to be introduced into an existing care home without extensive rewiring or disruption. LIGHT THAT DOES MORE Another development is the integration of lighting with care technology. Belgian technology company Nobi has created a ceiling-mounted smart luminaire that combines lighting with optical sensors and artificial intelligence. The fitting can detect when someone gets out of bed and provide low-level illumination automatically. It can also detect falls and alert care staff, while its lighting can be programmed to change in brightness and colour through the day. Nobi can also provide information about night-time activity and sleep patterns, potentially helping care teams identify changes in behaviour. However, automation needs to be applied carefully. Nobi notes that its night-light function may not suit every resident. Someone who regularly moves towards the edge of the bed while asleep, for example, could repeatedly trigger the light and disturb their sleep. It is a useful reminder that ‘smart’ does not necessarily mean fully automatic. In dementia care, controls need to respond to individuals rather than imposing the same settings on every resident. KEEPING CONTROL The ability to vary lighting according to residents, activities and time of day is becoming increasingly common. Thorlux, for example, combines its SmartScan wireless controls with ColourActive luminaires, allowing colour temperature and light levels to change over programmed schedules. At Atlant Loohof nursing home, in the Netherlands, the system provides different settings for television viewing, cleaning and night-time operation, while ColourActive fittings alter colour temperature over the course of the day. Yet technology should not divert attention from the most valuable light source available: daylight. Research into dementia care environments has found that spaces with access to daylight can provide considerably greater circadian stimulus than those without it. Daylight also provides information beyond illumination, helping to communicate weather, time of day and activity outside, all of which can support orientation. That places responsibility on the architecture as much as the lighting specification. Window position, room layouts, furniture placement, shading and access to gardens all influence how much daylight residents actually receive. Simply providing a window does not guarantee that somebody sitting for much of the day will benefit from meaningful daylight exposure. The same holistic approach applies to artificial lighting. A sophisticated tunable-white system cannot compensate for glare from a shiny floor, deep pools of shadow, poor contrast or controls residents cannot understand. The Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling has long emphasised the importance of lighting as part of enabling design. Good lighting can support independence, choice and dignity by helping people make sense of their surroundings. Circadian programming, connected controls and intelligent sensors are extending what lighting systems can achieve, but successful dementiacare lighting is not principally about technology. It is about helping people see where they are, understand what is around them and move through the environment with confidence. • Circadian or human-centric lighting generally alters both intensity and colour temperature through the day Dementia care lighting Nobi – www.nobi.life Nobi combines lighting with optical sensors and AI-based monitoring. Its range includes Nobi Pendant, Nobi Ceiling and the smaller Nobita fitting. The system can detect falls and movement, provide low-level night lighting and send alerts to care teams. Commercial Lighting– www.commercial-lighting.co.uk Its Circadian Lighting System, installed at Sycamores care home, uses tunable-white fittings and Casambi Bluetooth mesh controls to vary light output and colour temperature through the day. Wireless controls make the system particularly suitable for retrofit projects. Thorlux Lighting– www.thorlux.co.uk SmartScan ColourActive combines wireless controls with colourtemperature-changing luminaires. Programmed settings can alter light levels and colour temperature according to time of day and activity, with manual adjustment also available.
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