Lessons from a pandemic: how to design a seniors home that’s safe and love-filled
Individual bedrooms. Separate elevators for staff and visitors. Clusters of suites. More staff common rooms. Baptist Housing is adapting design of Inglewood Care Centre to help prevent the spread of viruses
North Shore News
September 29, 2020 by Martha Perkins
The images were heartbreaking — a senior citizen, alone in their nursing home bedroom while, on the other side of the window, a family member stands outside and tries to establish some kind of connection to ease the sense of isolation and foreboding.
Surely, people said, there has to be a better way to keep residents of care facilities safe while also allowing them to be with their families.
Baptist Housing is working on it. The coronavirus pandemic has unexpectedly provided new insights into how nursing homes should be designed to help control the spread of any type of illness. The timing is especially beneficial as Baptist Housing works on its plans for the first phase of the Inglewood Care Centre redevelopment.