Electric.ie Issue 39 May-June

6 ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • Norwegian researchers are in the process of completing a ma- jor project that shows promising results for the use of new lighting technology in the treatment of people with dementia. The tech- nology has great potential and the Research Council of Norway has chosen to support a new and more extensive project based on the same technology. According to the National Association for Public Health, about 10.000 Norwegians are affected by dementia annually. It is an important priority for the Norwegian Health Authorities to ensure that patients get a good light quality despite their illness. The use of new lighting technology can be an important contribution to this objective. Mitigating symptoms Among the factors that reduce the life quality of people with dementia, are poor quality of sleep and psychological reactions such as depression, anxiety and aggression. Associ- ate Professor Elisabeth Flo at the University of Bergen is in charge of a project called DEM. LIGHT, where she and seven colleagues have studied whether the use of lighting can reduce such symptoms and help patients to function. DEM.LIGHT has followed patients from four nursing homes equipped with new LED luminaires with technology that makes it possible to change the colour temperature and intensity of the light. The luminaires are supplied by Glamox. – Our vision is to improve the quality of treatment in the public sector, with novel Can lighting give people with dementia a better everyday life? rehabilitation solutions for nursing home pa- tients. Hopefully, these solutions can also be adapted to private homes, making it possible to prolong the time people with dementia can stay at home. It can also reduce the costs for society and improve the lives of patients, relatives and health professionals, Flo said. New project The DEM.LIGHT project started in the autumn of 2016 and the researchers are currently analysing the data from the project. Flo cannot say anything about results until they are published. However, the technology represents a promising non-drug treatment and the Research Council will fund a new project based on the same technology which is scheduled to start in the autumn of 2019. The new project comprises laboratory tests where the researchers will explore the effect of different lighting regimes on research subjects with mild dementia. The research subjects will be set to solve various tests that measure cognitive performance and mood. Also, the researchers will study the effects of different lighting regimes in the subjects’ homes. Human Centric Lighting The lighting used in the research projects is provided by Glamox, which over the past few years has introduced a number of new LED solutions for Human Centric Lighting. Human Centric Lighting is about using artificial lighting to recreate some of the positive effects daylight have on the human body. As opposed to traditional daylight therapy lamps the Human Centric Lighting solutions provided by Glamox are integrated into the general lighting and can be programmed to run in a predefined cycle. This makes it easier to offer treatment to patients as a part of their everyday light.