Environmental Design for People Living with Dementia

Citation

Quirke M, Bennett K, Chau H, Preece T & Jamei E (2023) Environmental Design for People Living with Dementia. Encyclopedia, 3 (3), pp. 1038-1057. https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8392/3/3/76; https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia3030076

Abstract
Definition: The term ‘environmental design for dementia’ relates to both the process and outcomes of designing to support or improve cognitive accessibility in physical environments. Environmental design for dementia is evidenced as an effective non-pharmacological intervention for treatment of the symptoms of dementia and is associated with higher levels of independence and wellbeing for people living with a variety of age-related cognitive, physical, and sensory impairments. Evidence-based dementia design principles have been established as a means of supporting both the design and evaluation of environmental design for dementia.

Keywords
cognitive access; dementia design; environmental design; independence; therapeutic environment; evidence-based design; assessment tools; supportive built environment

Journal
Encyclopedia: Volume 3, Issue 3

People

Dr Martin Quirke

Lecturer in Dementia, Ageing & Design, Dementia and Ageing