Impact of Daylight on Occupants’ Wellbeing in Care Home Environments

Daylight has the potential to stimulate individual’s sensations and feelings. Older people who live in care homes experience daylight in waysthat might influence them psychologically. The psychological effects of daylight can be observed under two headings: longer-term effects and short term effects. The longer term effects of seasonal change of light on an individual’s behaviour and mood, i.e. SAD is one of the most developed researched subjects among the psychological effects of natural light. Similarly, as short term effects, illuminance and correlated colour temperature (CCT) of light create stimulation to individuals’ sensations that might affect individuals’ moods.

Light can impact on wellbeing: physically, physiologically, and psychologically. Still, the short-term effects of light (i.e., impact of light on mood and behaviour at a particular moment) are a matter of dispute within the scientific research community. At an empirical level, the existing literature contains a mix of contradictory evidence of short term effects of light on individuals’ moods. The short term effects of varying levels of indoor/outdoor illuminance, on individuals’ moods are largely unknown. This research investigated, in addition to the established long term effects of light on an individual’s mood and behaviour (i.e. SAD), if there is any short term effect of natural illuminance on an individual’s mood.