Seniors Housing Business is the magazine that helps you navigate the evolution of the seniors housing industry.
Issue link: https://seniorshousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/484276
Layout, lifestyle go hand in hand n Design Interior designers make inroads in balancing functionality with style in seniors housing. By Jef Shaw Seniors housing operators have a narrow line to walk. A commu- nity's interiors — furniture, layout and design — must serve the needs of a wide range of people, from seniors still capable of independent living to those who are wheelchair-bound with assistance needs. At the same time, the community must still function as a residence rather than a clinical setting. Seniors housing communities have traditionally leaned too far toward a hospital-style setting, according to Jane Rohde, founder and principal at Maryland-based senior living consult- ing frm JSR Associates. "Many facilities treat aging as a disease," says Rohde. "They treat the clinical part, but they don't create a home." Rohde chairs the Residential Document Group — a subset of the Health Guidelines Revision Committee — which pub- lished a book in July to help facilities understand design and construct seniors housing in accordance with licensing and regulations. She says there's nothing about adhering to state and federal regulations that prevents designers from creating a "person-centered environment." "We're seeing it in healthcare in general, too," says Rohde. "It's not looking nearly as institutional." Austin-based studioSIX5, an interior design frm specializing in seniors housing, is one of the companies leading the charge toward a style closer to the hospitality industry, according to company president Dean Maddalena. "It's just beginning to change, but [a clinical look] has been the modus operandi for everybody," says Maddalena. "Before they could get away with it, but with the expectations we have now the importance of design is critical." One of studioSIX5's clients — Atlanta-based Thrive Senior Living, an owner and operator with a portfolio of over a dozen communities throughout the South — believes that emulating the styles of hotels and resorts is key to moving away from the clinical nature of seniors housing. "We take an approach to create an atmosphere more akin to a hospitality rather than home-like atmosphere," says Jeramy Ragsdale, who founded Thrive in 2008 and still serves as Sitting rooms, left and below, at Legacy at Falcon Point, an assisted living community in Katy, Texas, were designed by Thrive Senior Living and studioSIX5 to allow residents of varying acuity to move and sit comfortably throughout the community. 44 www.seniorshousingbusiness.com Seniors Housing Business n February-March 2015