People with dementia admitted to mental health units are among the most vulnerable patients in the whole care system. ‘They are usually acutely distressed, and benefit greatly from an environment designed to meet their needs’.
So says the Dementia Services Development Centre at Stirling University (HEJ – September 2013 and February 2014), which has published a new book, Designing mental health units for people with dementia: features to assist patients with dementia and delirium, describing ‘how to create the optimum environment’.
The DSDC said: “Dementia-friendly design is recognised as a powerful therapeutic intervention. Most of the information to date, however, has related to domestic or care home settings. Our new guidance demonstrates how, for minimum cost, mental health units can be easily adapted to accommodate the complex physical, sensory, cognitive, and perceptual impairments experienced by many people with dementia.”
