Healthcare Design - December 2019 - 46

The

Center

CULTURE CHANGE

The industry needs new solutions to facilitate supportive
environments for those with cognitive issues By Debra Levin

people
worldwide are dealing with
some form of dementia, and
that number is expected to
rise to 82 million by 2030
and 152 million by 2050, according to the World Health
Organization. Today, a new
person is diagnosed with dementia every three
seconds. Dementia could even top the Fortune
500 list, with companies working in that sector valued at $610 billion in 2018. Compare that
number to Apple at $230 billion and Walmart at
$500 billion, and you start to get a sense of the
enormity of this market.
Today, the "behaviors" associated with dementia such as anxiety, depression, and irritability are often dealt with by administering
medications. But these medications often have
side effects that deprive individuals of their full
capabilities. The questions to ask ourselves as a
community: How can we use the environment to
help facilitate a supportive culture that provides
the highest level of quality of life and independence to those with cognitive issues? And how
can we make adaptions to the environment to
accommodate a range of abilities and encourage
personal expression and purpose?
During a recent Pebble in Practice workshop on Designing for an Aging Mind, Addie
Abushousheh, research associate at The Center for Health Design, proposed several environmental design strategies for healthcare
settings during her "Designing Settings for
Memory Care" presentation. For example,
in order to mitigate overstimulation for individuals who have diminished coping thresholds, Abushousheh suggested reducing the
perceived size and number of occupants per
care/waiting area. To aid in wayfinding, layouts
and spaces should be designed using intuitive
room configurations and adjacencies. Providing
visual, physical, and even virtual access to nature
can help orient older adults to time and place.
Additionally, because many older patients, es-

ROUND 50 MILLION

DECEMBER 2019

pecially those with dementia, become anxious
in unfamiliar environments, using a residential
ambience, character, and décor can help make
people feel more comfortable.
Within the broader community, another
unique solution, and one that's starting to see
traction worldwide, is to create entire dementiafriendly communities where people with cognitive impairments live alongside their neighbors
with limited restrictions. Like universal design,
where good design benefits all who use it regardless of needs or abilities, dementia-friendly
communities use design and community networks to support people of all cognitive abilities.
For example, in Bruges, Belgium, community
leaders maintain a database of people with dementia in case one of them goes missing. Stores
there have trained their employees on how best
to communicate with individuals with dementia, and signs let customers know that a store
is dementia-friendly. To learn more about this
movement, visit the Dementia Friendly America
website at www.dfamerica.org.
It's clear that a large portion of the population
is going to be impacted by dementia. This reality is coupled with baby boomers' expectations
of amenities and services that will enable them
to lead full lives and maintain their familiar
routines, hobbies, and lifestyles for as long as
possible. The challenges to achieving this are
significant, but so too are the opportunities. I
can't wait to see how the industry employs innovative tools and resources to create new solutions. For more information on the Designing
for the Aging Mind workshop and webinars of
some of the presentations given, visit The Center's website at www.healthdesign.org. 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center for
Health Design. She can be reached at D L E V I N @
H E A LT H D E S I G N . O R G .

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

http://www.dfamerica.org http://www.healthdesign.org http://seniorliving.comfortek.com/ http://seniorliving.comfortek.com/ http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM

Healthcare Design - December 2019

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