FEATURE ARTICLES

Phil Mangnall, Jaga Heating Products, discusses the importance of safe, energy efficient, responsive heating in care homes

Paul Jakeway, marketing director at skin care specialist Deb, explains how strategically placed facilities, ongoing staff education and the right skin care products can help prevent the spread of infection

Karen Clayton, dementia environment specialist, Find Memory Care, explains how a government-funded project to promote custom-designed care for residents with dementia, led to overall benefits for staff, residents and their families as well as long-term cost savings

Gayle Souter-Brown, director, Greenstone Design UK, explains how to design a care home garden to make the most of the positive impact it can have on the overall environment

Andrea Harman, concept developer for healthcare at manufacturer and developer of acoustic solutions, Saint Gobain Ecophon, considers the impact of good sound design on those with dementia in healthcare buildings and the difference it can make to patients, staff and visitors

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, discusses how NICE is defining what high quality social care must look like Our vision at NICE is to see each and every individual get the support they need, whether they are in hospital or in their community, and for people to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Damian Utton, director, Pozzoni Architecture, outlines the principles of and the ways in which design can help to improve quality of life for older people and specifically for people living with dementia

Where we live is vital to our security and to our wellbeing; this is true of every citizen, but particularly true of people who have to move into care environments, which should support them to live full lives, at times when they have illness or frailty, says Professor Martin Green, chief executive, Care England

Phil Padgett, national sales manager and dementia specialist at medical equipment and services provider, Essential Healthcare Solutions, argues that staff looking after those living with dementia need both appropriate training and a proper understanding of the condition. He also sets out some of the basic interior design criteria to consider when fitting out and furnishing facilities to be ‘dementia-friendly’.

Garden designers, Debbie Carroll and Mark Rendell, from Step Change Design, carried out a research project in the care sector to answer a simple question, ‘Why aren’t care home gardens used more actively?’ As they explain, the answers found had little to do with the design of the outside spaces, and more to do with the complex phenomenon of care culture.