Designing for people with dementia is a major need in elderly care buildings. However, it is difficult to design for this population, as the parameters of dementia itself are often vague. The author also notes that the registration requirements in the UK for a care home make no distinction between the type of dementia or the severity of the dementia. As such, most environments are not designed to meet the specific needs of this population.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss specific examples of design decisions made to meet the needs of people with dementia.
This paper’s main content comes from the author’s experience as an architect.
The author proposes an environmental toolkit that can be modified to meet the specific needs of the residents given their dementia severity or type. Key features for dementia care buildings include flexible spaces for free roaming; multiple cueing systems; comprehensible plans and bedroom groups; openness and privacy; variety of spaces; provision for animals; visuoperceptual safeguards and aids; icons and cues; a strong visual relationship to the exterior; and challenge and exercise. The author also discusses in more detail the important role that light plays and the memory trail as part of the therapeutic free-form space.
This paper is based on the author’s experiences. Some examples are supported by research, while others are not.