Key Internal and External Spaces

For household models, provide a central, shared, spacious but domestic scale, communal area composed of a living area, an open kitchen, and a dining area.

• Central living and dining spaces should be well-ventilated and bright, with numerous openable doors and windows to allow for better ventilation in terms of infection control, and to ensure they are comfortable spaces to use.
• Central living and dining spaces should be large enough to allow for social distancing during periods of restriction, and not be too crowded, where necessary, and to ensure it is easy to move around the space with mobility aids.

• Alternatively, settings should include multiple smaller central living and dining spaces, to allow for more privacy, various activities, and the breaking down of the setting into smaller units where necessary.
• Contact or a good view to nature and the outdoors from the central living areas is beneficial to all stakeholders, especially residents.

• Provide more numerous and varied visitor spaces within settings to handle different kinds and numbers of visitors at different levels of privacy. This may involve converting existing rooms, subdividing common areas, or building on new visitor spaces.
• All visitor areas should be spacious enough for social distancing and well ventilated.
• Provide a range of open and sheltered outdoor visiting areas in gardens or courtyards, or on balconies or roof terraces. Within these spaces provide a variety of open areas and seating and covered areas such as verandas or garden shelters.

• Provide spacious single bedrooms with private bathrooms for all residents where possible. Bedrooms should be a sufficient size to allow residents and visitors to move around the space easily, with or without mobility aid such as rollator or wheelchair.
• Ideally, bedrooms should have a small sitting area and kitchenette that would allow more autonomy, independence, and the hosting of visitors.
• Bedrooms should be provided with large windows with good views to the outside, including from the bed, and ideally a small private outdoor space in the form of a terrace or balcony.

• Good ventilation is critical to reducing the transmission of COVID-19 in indoor spaces, therefore all bedrooms and bathrooms should be well ventilated.
• The internal environment of resident bedrooms should be comfortable and a suitable temperature.

• All bathroom/toilet facilities should be accessible, having sufficient space to allow for wheelchair/rollator use and for a carer to attend the person using it.
• All bathroom/toilet facilities should be well-ventilated, either by way of an external window or by a fan.
• Resident bedrooms should have their own individual bathroom, wherever possible.

• Provide centrally located, high quality outdoor spaces or gardens directly linked to key internal spaces to support quality of life and infection control.

• Provide safe, comfortable, and accessible outdoor areas where a resident can be brought to meet with family, while maintaining physical distance from others who might also be using the space.

• Provide sheltered external spaces with heaters for the colder months.

• Well-designed balconies and terraces can provide many of the same benefits as a ground level garden including access to fresh air, daylight, and views, and contact with nature and the outdoors. These spaces become even more important if a patient is located on an upper floor or is unable to travel to or access a ground level garden due to illness, frailty, delirium, or infection control.

• Despite being outside, it is still important to consider good ventilation in all outdoor areas, especially in relation to any covered outdoor seating areas (age-friendly seating with arm and back rests, as well as space for people using wheelchairs alongside) or similar outdoor structures.

• It is important to have set staff only areas for breaks, changing, storage of personal belongings etc.
• These spaces should exist independently of resident spaces, and resident spaces should never be repurposed to meet these needs.