Quality of light and quality of life: An intervention study among older people

Abstract

The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding concerning the relationship between lighting and quality of life in relation to older people. In the first phase, an evaluation was made of the standard of lighting in elderly people's dwellings. A total of 185 people aged 65 or more was randomly selected, with 160 agreeing to participate in an interview investigation. The results from this phase of the study demonstrated a close relationship between lighting and quality of life. The causal relation was studied in a second stage. Using results from the initial interviews as a bases, 48 people were chosen whose living room's reading area was poorly lit. All 48 agreed to further participation in the study. They were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group and the lighting in the reading area was improved for those included in the experimental group. In the follow-up interviews three months later, an increase was observed in the quality of life in the experimental group as compared with the control group. A second and a third follow-up interview performed after a further one year and three years respectively, demonstrated that this improvement in life quality persisted. Results from the present study indicate that once improvements of lighting standard have been achieved, the subjects do not want to return to previous inferior lighting conditions. Future efforts should focus on studies that stimulate and encourage older people to improve their lighting standard.