Dementia: getting the environment right

Ricardo Codinhoto of the International Dementia Design Network, a qualified architect with practical, teaching, and research experience, and his co-chair on the Network, Natalie Yates-Bolton, a lecturer in Nursing at the University, explain the thinking behind the Group’s approach to well-designed mental healthcare environments, and report on some of the key topics discussed at this first ever National Dementia Design Conference.

As people with dementia enter hospitals and other environments where they will receive care, treatment, and support, what message does this environment provide? Is it a message that acknowledges their importance, and that gives expressive recognition to their human condition as they walk in disorientated, and losing self-confidence?’ These words are paraphrased from Jenck and Healthcote’s The Architecture of Hope,1 which describes the journey from understanding the needs of people from the patient’s perspective, to the design and construction of beautiful, supportive centres of care.2 This approach is reflected in the work of an interdisciplinary group, the Dementia Design Group at the University of Salford. The group is made up of academics, researchers, nurses, architects, surveyors, sociologists, computer scientists, occupational therapists, lecturers in business and social policy, psychologists, artists, landscape gardeners, charities, people with dementia, and their carers. Its aim is to contribute to research, innovation, and education, where design can make a positive difference to living with dementia.

 A key consideration for architects