4 Touches That Make a Senior Living Development Feel Like Home

The comforts of home are important for residents moving into a senior living development. Moving out of a familiar home and into a new environment can make anyone homesick, especially if it’s the first move they’ve made in many years.

You’ll want to ensure that each resident is able to adjust to their new space and relax. Here are some thoughtful design elements and facility considerations that will help your senior living development feel like home.

1. A Place to Keep Personal Belongings

One of your top priorities should be providing places for new residents to store any personal items that make them comfortable and display the keepsakes that will remind them of home. 

This can include small convenience features in the shower like soap ledges or a comfortable shelf along the shower’s back wall for storing bottles and personal items. There’s no reason that accessible senior living bathroom designs need to feel clinical or sterile. Some of our favorite fiberglass shower units include molded shelving features for a sense of comfort and familiarity that’s just like home.

2. Safety Features in Transitional Places

Home is a place where you feel protected and secure. Senior residents value design features that provide this feeling of safety and security, according to a design study conducted by Life Care Services (LCS) and Spellman Brady & Company.

“This was a bit surprising,” Hoffman remarked about how important safety and security ranked for respondents. “This was a design study, and we expected feedback on color palettes and style.”

Consider elements like sturdy handrails or grab bars that contrast from the walls in transitional areas (like bathroom facilities). While features like these might be less common in home designs for young residents, the feeling of safety they provide helps older residents to relax and feel confident in their new home.

3. Home-Like Patterns & Textures in Accessible Facilities

One area that senior living developments often struggle with a sense of homeyness is the bathroom. ADA accessible shower units must respect certain standards, but this doesn’t mean you need a blank white fiberglass shower that would fit right in at a hospital. 

Consider a design that incorporates a recessed band for inlaying colorful tile, or a textured surface pattern that simulates tile in the surface of the fiberglass. This brings a sense of sophistication and familiarity to an assisted living shower unit.

4. Spacious Areas for Self-Care

Residents will feel more at home with the space they need to care for themselves and do what they enjoy doing. This could mean relaxing in the steam of a long, warm shower while comfortably seated. Extra floor space in the bathroom with a wide-opening, no-threshold shower and the option to use a folding shower seat makes personal care more accessible and stress-free.

Stay on top of these senior living development ideas and more on our regularly updated EverFab blog!