Home lighting for older people

With age the eyes need more light while coping less well with glare and darkness. Practical steps towards safe, comfortable lighting at home.

In our parents' or grandparents' home there may be a lamp that has not changed in decades, a dark hallway and a single step on the way from the bedroom to the toilet. To young eyes that is just an old interior. For an older person, each one is a risk: of a fall, of mixing up medication, of eyes tiring through the day. The changes that happen to the eye with age directly change how much light is needed, and adapting the home's lighting accordingly is a simple but very effective form of care.

How the eye changes with age

To understand the lighting plan, it helps to know what the changes are:

• More light is needed. With age the pupil gets smaller and the lens less transparent, so less light reaches the retina. The same room looks dimmer to an older person than to a younger one.
• Sensitivity to glare increases. More light scatters inside the lens, so an exposed bulb, a bright window or a reflection on a polished floor dazzles.
• Adapting to darkness slows down. Moving from a bright room into a dark hallway, vision takes a long time to recover.
• Contrast and colour perception weaken. It becomes harder to tell a step from the floor when they are the same shade, or navy from black.

These changes progress at different rates in different people, and cataracts or other eye conditions make things worse. So a lighting plan does not replace an eye examination; it complements it.

More light, but without glare

The main principle is simple: increase the amount of light, but deliver it diffusely, not straight into the eyes.

• Replace fittings with exposed bulbs with frosted diffusers or shaded models.
• Instead of one strong point, spread several medium-output sources around the room; this reduces shadows and harsh contrast.
• Fittings that direct light onto the ceiling and walls create soft, even ambient light.
• Sheer curtains keep daylight but reduce the glare of direct sun.
• Watch for reflections of lamps on highly polished floors and tabletops.

For close tasks such as reading, sewing or reading the label on a medicine box, a separate, directional local lamp is essential. Its light should fall on the book or the work, and the bulb should not be visible.

The night route: bed to bathroom

A significant share of falls among older people at home happen at night, moving around half-asleep in the dark. That makes the night route the most important part of the lighting.

• Have a switch or touch lamp within reach of the bed while lying down.
• Along the route from bedroom to toilet, place dim lights close to the floor, either small motion-sensor fittings or always-on night lights.
• Sensor-activated light in the toilet and bathroom removes the need to grope for a switch.
• Night light should be warm and dim so it does not dazzle or fully break sleep.

Steps, thresholds and contrast

Every change of level in the home, such as the entrance step, a balcony threshold or the step into the bathroom, should be lit separately. The edge of a step needs to contrast with its background; light falling from the side at a low angle is more effective for this than light from above.

Colour contrast helps alongside light: a light-coloured strip on a step edge, switches in a colour that stands out from the wall, door frames that differ from the wall. Illuminated switches are especially useful because they are easy to find in the dark.

Easy control

• Put switches at room entrances, at the same height and always on the same side.
• Large rocker switches are easier than small buttons.
• Motion sensors help at night and when hands are full, but set a long delay to allow for slower movement.
• A remote control or voice-operated system can help someone with limited mobility, provided it is simple to use.
• Climbing a ladder to change a bulb is dangerous for an older person. Long-life LED bulbs and reachable fittings reduce the need; when a bulb does need changing, plan for help from family.

Checklist

• General light in rooms is sufficient and does not shine into the eyes.
• There is a local lamp for reading and close work.
• The night route from bed to toilet is lit.
• Steps and thresholds are lit separately and their edges stand out.
• Switches are easy to find, large and illuminated.
• Changing a bulb does not require climbing.

If an older relative needs more light, look at the higher-wattage Zəfər İşığı E27 bulbs; their frosted covers also keep glare down. When replanning a home's lighting, choose bulbs for each room according to the characteristics of the fitting.