Designing lifetime homes for people in the early stages of dementia

As both the number and the share of elderly people are increasing in western countries, the number of people with dementia (pwd) is increasing too. ‘Dementia’ covers more than 200 diseases in the brain, and the symptoms include memory loss, difficulties of wayfinding, problem solving and change in behavior.
Dementia is a progressive condition. In the beginning, the symptoms are small, yet affecting daily life. In this stage, most pwd still live independently or with support from relatives in their own home. But as the symptoms get worse, more professional care is demanded and a physical environment adapted to their needs. Several research studies highlight important aspects regarding design of the physical environment in care homes for pwd. But due to increasing demand, there aren’t care homes enough, and more important, most people strongly wish to stay living in own home.
That raises the question: Is it possible to adapt design solutions for care homes for pwd to ordinary housing, and in this way postpone the need for a nursing home?
The paper discusses options for pwd to stay longer in their original home and familiar surroundings by incorporating recommendations regarding design of care homes for pwd in order to upgrade ordinary housing into lifetime homes, also suitable for elderly with dementia.
Theoretically, the paper is based on previous research, partly conducted at SBi, on design of care homes for pwd. The findings will be applied to a specific case, a Danish housing scheme for elderly.
The discussion is held from a UD perspective (Lid, 2013) and focus on whether the needs of the few (pwd) will be beneficial for the many.
The results indicate that by respecting needs of pwd in design of housing, these may be turned into lifetime homes. A wider group of people including pwd will benefit from this design strategy, as architectural quality, wayfinding, social interaction and quality of life of all residents will improve