Designing a “Think-Along Dwelling” for People With Dementia: A Co-Creation Project Between Health Care and the Building Services Sector

Abstract Ageing-in-place is the preferred way of living for older individuals in an ageing society. It can be facilitated through architectural and technological solutions in the home environment. Dementia poses additional challenges when designing, constructing, or retrofitting housing facilities that support ageing-in-place. Older adults with dementia and their partners ask for living environments that support independence, compensate for declining and vitality, and lower the burden of family care. This study reports the design process of a demonstration home for people with dementia through performing a literature review and focus group sessions. This design incorporates modifications in terms of architecture, interior design, the indoor environment, and technological solutions. Current design guidelines are frequently based on small-scale studies, and, therefore, more systematic field research should be performed to provide further evidence for the efficacy of solutions. The dwellings of people with dementia are used to investigate the many aspects of supportive living environments for older adults with dementia and as educational and training settings for professionals from the fields of nursing, construction, and building services engineering. KEYWORDS: architectureAlzheimerhome modificationindependenceageing in placeadaptation Acknowledgments The members of the focus groups are acknowledged for their contribution. The authors wish to thank OTIB (Opleidings- en ontwikkelingsfonds voor het Technisch InstallatieBedrijf) in Woerden, The Netherlands; and the Dutch Alzheimer Society (Stichting Alzheimer Nederland) in Bunnik, The Netherlands for their contributions during the course of the project, and Hugo van den Beld for guiding the focus group sessions. Notes All cost figures by Wimo, Winblad, and Jönsson (Citation2007) have been recalculated from US$ figures at a rate of €1 = US$1.27.