Up to £50 million in Department of Health funding is to be made available to NHS Trusts and local authorities, working in partnership with care providers, ‘to help tailor hospitals and care homes to the needs of people with dementia’.
Following Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s announcement, in late October, that the cash would be made available to help create care environments that would help reduce anxiety and distress for people with dementia, the DH announced in late November that ‘expressions of interest’ were being accepted. On announcing the funding, the Department emphasised that research by The King’s Fund demonstrates that good design can help with the management of dementia. Organisations that bid successfully for money will be able to adapt care homes and hospitals using design principles tested in The King’s Fund pilots. Specially designed rooms and spaces could include features such as:
• Hi-tech sensory rooms using lighting, smells, and sound, to stimulate people’s senses.
• Large photos of local scenes from the past to prompt people’s memories.
• Specially adapted outside space to prevent people from wandering, by helping them keep busy and active with activities such as gardening.
• Technology such as day / night clocks and controllable mood lighting to emulate day and night, which can help with sleep patterns, orientation, and safe movement.
• Calming colours, non-reflective surfaces, large-print signs, and the creation of ‘zones’ to help people know where they are and find their way back to their rooms.
The projects will form part of a national pilot to showcase the best examples of ‘dementia-friendly’ care environments. The lessons learned will inform local Health and Wellbeing Boards on how to create better environments for dementia care.
