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Dementia Design Consultancy

Approach
To work with service users & their families, health practitioners, care staff, care providers, architects, commissioners, regulatory & inspection agencies, the scientific & academic communities and government to understand and improve existing environments and to design new ones.

7 Point Program for Dementia Design and Consultation

1. Work with service users and families to:
• Develop nature-based activities and social involvement
• Integrate carers needs into the design and activity curriculum
• Develop a nature-filled environment conducive to communication and creativity

2. Work with health and social care providers to:
• Educate on the achievable benefits of nature for health and emotional well-being
• Show nature in a therapeutic context that enhances their care and practice
• Promote an integrated program of nature, architecture and dementia care
• Establish centres of excellence in nature-based creativity.

3. Work with architecture firms and building commissioners to:
• Integrate nature into the facility during the planning and design process
• Input advice and expertise into design and planning decisions
• Translate and communicate the vision of the operations and management team
• Produce landscape architectural drawings and planting plans
• Educate and advocate for the development of edge spaces in buildings

4. Work with the scientific, academic and design community to:
• Maintain a database of evidence on nature in dementia care environments
• Conduct research on the architecture and landscape of care practice
• Formulate and evolve a set of environmental design criteria
• Develop new and innovative research methodology for human environment

5. Work with regulatory and inspection agencies to:
• Improve service provision through environmental design
• Set up ongoing design research as a quality assurance indicator
• Establish best practice sites they can endorse and promote

6. Work with academic institutions to:
• Develop and teach courses and modules within a dementia design curriculum
• Innovate methodology for human-environment behaviour research
• Develop and teach postgraduate coursework on research methodology

7. Work with governments and policy makers to:
• Put connection to nature for people with dementia onto their political agenda
• Include access to nature & outdoors into legislation and policy regarding care environments