J+J Flooring Group, a leading manufacturer of commercial specified flooring, has identified four major trends influencing the design of today’s senior living residences and communities. The four trends are: Defining Home, Connection to Community, Support for Staff, and Details Matter.

These newly identified trends are included in J+J’s 2017 Senior Living Design Trend Report. The report is available for free download at http://www.jjflooringgroup.com/senior-living-design-symposium/.

The report provides design professionals and senior living owners/operators with leading-edge information to assist them in making the most informed design and product decisions to achieve their goals and desired outcomes.

This year’s four trends are identified as:

Defining home – As senior living continues to evolve, there is an increasing emphasis on creating places that are less institutional and feel like home. This is not new, but efforts to define what home means to different senior populations and translate that to design are taking it to a new level.

Connection to community – One of the most common complaints of people in senior living communities is isolation -- from each other, from their extended families and from the community at large. Emerging models include repurposing older properties that are more centrally located within communities, where senior living is just one component of the greater campus. Within the senior living communities themselves, design is being used in common spaces to encourage interaction, support family/friend relationships, promote involvement in daily activities, and foster opportunities for multi-generational interaction.

Support for staff – Day in and day out, the staff is also part of a senior living community. It makes sense that if owners/operators take good care of their employees, those employees will take good care of the residents. Progressive owners/operators are looking at the Google model of staff break rooms, providing lounge seating, ping pong tables, full kitchens with free food and sleep rooms.

Details matter – Variety and an innate desire to explore and discover new things are essential to the human experience in all stages of life. This is where the details matter in senior living design. No matter what the size, scope or budget of the project, paying attention to the design details is what will make it feel like home, foster community, and support staff. Resident directed/person centered care, an ongoing interactive process between residents, caregivers, and others, speaks to this as well.

For more information, visit www.jjflooringgroup.com.