FEATURE ARTICLES

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.