Architecture for the Elderly and Frail People, Well-Being Elements Realizations and Outcomes: Experiences From Denmark

The relationship between architecture, housing and well-being of elderly and frail people is a topic of growing interest to consultants and political decision makers working on welfare solutions for elderly citizens.
The objective of the research presented here is to highlight which well-being elements in the nursing home environments that contribute to enhancing the well-being of the elderly and how these elements is ensured attention during a decision making process related to the design and the establishing of nursing homes.
With basis in four Danish representative case studies, various case data from the decision making process are collected, covering the planning, the design and the realization of four newly built nursing homes in Denmark.
The case studies clearly shows that the architectural well-being elements appear weak in the decision making process, when they are conflicting with technical, rational and economic decisions and priorities in this process. The research also reveals that it can be difficult for the building owner who has competences to the final decision to know what the right decisions are, although the decision makers have the will to ensure that institutional care provides the best possible environment for those in need of it, the case studies show there is little evidence-based knowledge used in the design process.
The conclusion is how we can inform the design decisions during the decision making process with architectural well-being elements based on research knowledge and scientific evidence and use them as design drivers through the design process. To secure well-being elements in the coming residential care facilities for the elderly.