The 2026 Environments for Aging Conference + Expo heads to Phoenix this March, bringing two days of keynote and educational sessions for attendees.
Environments for Aging is previewing some of the upcoming educational sessions in a series of Q+As with speakers, sharing what they plan to discuss and key takeaways they’ll offer attendees.
Session: “Designing for Sleep: An Evidence-Based, Team-Driven Approach to Senior Wellness”
Tuesday, March 17, 3-4 p.m.
Speaker: BJ Miller, CCIM, FASID, managing principal, Paradigm Atlantic Management Group (Atlanta)
Sleep is often treated as a secondary consideration in senior living environments, yet it is foundational to cognition, mobility, and emotional regulation. As the industry moves toward more holistic wellness models, design professionals are uniquely positioned to address sleep disruption through environmental strategies.
In this session, attendees will explore how integrating bioscience and operations in the senior living design can improve sleep quality for residents.
BJ Miller (Headshot by Kristi Hedberg)
Environments for Aging: Why is sleep such a critical yet often overlooked factor in senior wellness, and how can design professionals address this gap?
BJ Miller: Sleep is foundational to nearly every system that declines with age—cognition, mobility, immune function, emotional regulation—yet it is rarely treated as a core wellness infrastructure in senior environments. One reason it’s overlooked is that sleep disruption is often normalized as an inevitable part of aging, rather than recognized as a modifiable condition shaped by environment and routine.
Design professionals are uniquely positioned to address this gap by reframing sleep as a systems issue—one influenced by light, noise, temperature, spatial sequencing, and operational workflows—not simply an individual behavior or clinical concern.
EFA: Can you explain how circadian science, thermoregulation, and acoustic mapping can support efforts to improve sleep quality?
Miller: Circadian science informs when and what kind of light the aging body needs—particularly the importance of strong, circadian-effective daytime light and protected darkness at night. Thermoregulation recognizes that older adults have a narrower thermal comfort range, especially at night, making temperature stability and zoning critical to uninterrupted sleep. Additionally, acoustic mapping helps identify sources of low-level, persistent noise—mechanical systems, corridor activity, carts—that fragment sleep even when residents don’t consciously awaken.
When these disciplines are integrated early, they shape not just specifications, but adjacencies, infrastructure, and care pathways. For example, start with light timing, not just light levels—ensure residents receive strong daytime illumination and minimize nighttime light intrusion. Audit nighttime noise sources and adjust materials, layouts, or routines accordingly. Review temperature stability across sleeping areas. Most importantly, talk with operations teams early and often. Many sleep-disrupting conditions can be mitigated through coordination rather than capital investment.
EFA: In your session, you’ll present findings from a multidisciplinary case study. What are some findings that stand out to you, especially regarding memory care design?
Miller: One of the most striking findings was the variation—not just in lighting systems, but in how those systems were operationalized across sites. Design intent alone did not guarantee circadian benefit. Communities that aligned design decisions with staff routines and leadership priorities saw better outcomes than those that treated lighting as a standalone feature.
This reinforced my approach to memory care design as inherently interdisciplinary, where architecture, lighting, operations, and staff education must function as a single system to support sleep and reduce agitation.
EFA: How can embedding design professionals within care teams from project inception improve outcomes for both residents and staff?
Miller: When design professionals are engaged as part of the care ecosystem—not just as consultants—they gain insight into real-world workflows that directly affect resident sleep: nighttime checks, early morning routines, staff circulation patterns.
Embedding designers early allows those realities to inform spatial layout, lighting control strategies, and material selection.
EFA: How do you see the role of design evolving as bioscience and neuroscience continue to advance?
Miller: Design is increasingly becoming a translational discipline—where insights from bioscience and neuroscience are applied through space, systems, and routines.
As we better understand circadian biology, sensory processing, and neurodegeneration, design professionals will play a critical role in translating that knowledge into environments that actively support health rather than passively house people. This elevates design from aesthetic or functional problem-solving to a core contributor to human health.
EFA: What’s one takeaway you hope attendees learn from your session?
Miller: That sleep is not a secondary amenity—it is a foundational health system embedded in the built environment. When designers understand how their decisions influence sleep, and when those decisions are aligned with operations, we unlock one of the most powerful, non-pharmacological tools available to improve quality of life for older adults and working conditions for staff.
Find updates and additional information on the 2026 EFA Conference + Expo here.
