Susan Goldsmith, director of care quality and dementia, The Care Home Coach, provides some helpful hints for creating a dementia friendly environment that promotes wellbeing through orientation and familiarisation
Over the past three decades the care available for people living with dementia has evolved and there is far more focus on ensuring that care delivery is tailored to meet individual expectations. Following the pioneering work of Tom Kitwood,1a person-centred approach to care is now viewed as the norm and a number of care frameworks aspire to this principle; it seems only natural then to assume that the environment should be designed to support this approach, where residents are empowered and enabled to continue to live their lives in the way that they wish.
Designing and developing a dementia friendly environment can for many care home providers be a daunting task. With such an array of exciting ideas showcased online, the choice of design principles could be seen as overwhelming. So, how do you decide what is best for your residents? This article will consider how you can make simple changes to the environment that can give residents living with dementia the best opportunity to remain as active and independent as possible for as long as possible.
Specialised care
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