Dementia friendly living environments : an empirical investigation of design solutions in dementia care homes

• Main Author: Ritchie, Louise
• Published: University of the West of Scotland 2011
• Subjects: 616.8
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.556069

Over the last two decades the use of the environment as a therapeutic tool in the care of people with dementia has become more popular. Despite this, there is a lack of research which includes an empirical measure of behaviour to assess the impact that dementia friendly interventions have on people with dementia. Much of the current research focuses on the perceptions of the staff and relatives on the impact the environment has on people with dementia. There is a small body of research which attempts to include an empirical measure of behaviour, however due to small sample sizes in this type of research it is difficult to generalise the findings to a wider population. An extensive literature review identified the living area of care homes as the area most commonly used by residents yet it is the area that has received the least attention in terms of creating a dementia friendly environment.