Older adults can prepare to browse their smartphones late at night guilt-free.
The next wave of blue light technology could avoid the pitfalls of current devices, which are known to wreak havoc on sleep cycles. Designs in development have been able to shift the light away from the wavelengths that are most disruptive, new research shows.
LED lighting, in our phone computer screens, can disrupt sleep quality at any age, but older adults in general are more susceptible to poor sleep quality and cascade effects, such as heart and kidney disease, according to the National Council on Aging.
Within senior living and care settings, administrators should stay abreast of when such new devices are available to residents or when overhead lighting systems can be retrofitted.
Human susceptibility to blue light stimulation dates back to our ocean-dwelling ancestors, whose eyes developed in water, which filters out much light except for blue wavelengths.
Older adults’ sleep and melatonin cycles are most commonly disrupted by LED television screens and overhead lighting, the NCOA noted. In addition, many blue light filters marketed to seniors may not be very effective, the McKnight’s Tech Daily has reported.
Because of issues with the latter, many senior living and care communities are working to install “smart” lighting systems that are designed to help re-establish natural circadian rhythms.
Lighting systems need to balance assisting older adults with getting proper sleep, as well as making sure they don’t injure themselves in the middle of the night when getting up and using the restroom, experts have told the McKnight’s Tech Daily.
Better LED lighting systems were able to reduce older adult falling incidents by 43%, according to a Harvard study from last year.
Participants exposed to the new blue-light prototypes in lamps had a nighttime melatonin increase of 12%, the researchers said. Melatonin release is critical to falling asleep and maintaining circadian rhythms.
Although those special lighting environments were unique to the research study, the scientists hoped that those findings could mean that such lighting will be implemented in the next generation of tech devices and overhead lighting systems.
