Silent Care®
Silent Care® Design
Wayfinder Design has a particular commitment to the design of environments which meet the special needs of the frail aged and people with disabilities. The aim is to incorporate non-overt design elements which promote independence and safe movement for people in the built environment, regardless of a person’s capabilities.
The abilities taken into consideration include mobility, agility, balance, gait, dexterity, hearing & visual ability and cognition. Important elements, amongst many others, in the design of these environments are colour and tonal contrast, non-intrusive/low glare lighting, eliminating trip & slip hazards and, minimising harm by paying due attention to potentially dangerous surfaces, corners & edges in the physical environment.
The Silent Carer
The built environment should be thought of as a partner in the care of all people but, particularly for the vulnerable, those who live alone, those who have a disability of some kind or those who are highly dependent and require constant care. In fact the built environment can be thought of as a ‘silent partner’ or more appropriately considered as a ‘silent carer’. When the built environment is considered to be a ‘silent carer’,thenall interior and exterior elements can be assessed on their suitability for inclusion in a ‘silent carer’ design. This is the foundation of the philosophy of Silent Care® Design.
Silent Care® Physical Design Fundamentals
There are two physical design fundamentals in Silent Care®:
- Maximise the independence of a person
- Minimise the risk of potential harm to a person
The two Silent Care® Physical Design Fundamentals can be applied to every single element, feature or facet in the physical design of an exterior or interior environment. In the interior, the two fundamentals can be applied to the design of a bed, the arm of a chair, a table, a door handle, a door jamb, a light fitting, the joins between adjacent floor coverings, the edge of a kitchen bench, a window frame etc. In the exterior environment similar attention can be given to all physical elements which have the potential to cause harm. In many cases it is just a matter of excluding a particular feature or detail, or re-designing those features or details which do not conform to the two principles.
Some of the numerous details or facets that can potentially cause harm to people, are sharp edges, sharp corners, burrs on screws and nails, protruding nails, screws or staples and unfinished or poorly finished surfaces (seen or unseen). None of these potentially dangerous details need occur in the environment if care is taken during the specification, manufacture and fabrication processes.
All people are vulnerable to injury and are reliant on Designers to provide a safe, secure and navigable physical environment. Good sense suggests that no combination of elements should hinder the daily activities of any person or pose a potential danger. Accordingly, the Silent Care® Physical Design Principles were developed to provide a systematic method of assessing environmental elements - those principles are as follows:
Silent Care® Physical Design Principles
First Silent Care® Design Principle
To be considered appropriate for inclusion in a design an element, or combination of
Element, needs to satisfy both of the Silent Care® Physical Design Fundamentals i.e. it maximises the independence of the person and minimises potential harm to the person.
Second Silent Care® Design Principle
If an element or combination of elements satisfies one Silent Care® Physical Design Fundamental and can be modified to satisfy the other than it can be included in the design.
Third Silent Care® Design Principle
If an element or combination of elements can satisfy only one Silent Care® Physical Design Fundamental and cannot be modified to satisfy the other then it is inappropriate to be included in the design.
Adhering to these Silent Care® Design Principles will ensure that interior and exterior environments eliminate as far as is possible potentially harmful elements and include, as far as is possible, assistive or benign elements in the design. The desired outcome is that the resultant designs should look as ‘standard’ as is possible and be visually appealing in form and scale.
- Good design is not necessarily more expensive - it is simply more thoughtful, more careful and good sense.
- Careful thought in design will provide for thoughtful care in the built environment.