Insufficient exposure to daylight has been linked to sleep, mood and health problems. This can occur when individuals are unable to move outdoors for different reasons, or when they have restricted access to daylight/view outside. One example is individuals with physical and/or mental challenges who, in some cases, also rely on third parties (carers, relatives, neighbours, friends) to help them move outdoors and get daylight exposure. The project eLIGHT (enabling LIGHT exposure) has a focus on older adults to study and find solutions to these challenges.
The project team aims to identify mediators that enable or disable daily exposure to daylight to then design specific solutions to the disabling mediators in populations of older adults. We aim to create recommendations to motivate and facilitate translational changes for those in charge, to help ensure sustainability of these solutions. This shall also include the training of exemplary groups to become peer leaders, who promote daylight as a human right.
The project findings will empower individuals and communities by embedding daylight accessibility into daily routines and promoting environments that provide better daylight exposure.
Prof. Dr. habil. Thomas Kantermann (Lead), iap & Research Academy, FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management, Germany
Prof. Dr. Klaus Martiny (Lead), Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Prof. Dr. Natalia Sokol, Faculty of Architecture, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland
Dr. Mirjam Münch, Centre for Chronobiology, UPK Basel, Switzerland
Dr. Stephan Michel, Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands
Dr. Luca Zaniboni, Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Dr. Christine Blume, Centre for Chronobiology, University Psychiatric Clinics Base, Switzerland
Dr. Anna M Biller, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University Munich, Germany
Dr. Resshaya Murukesu, Research Fellow, TUMCREATE, Singapore