Designing living spaces for persons with dementia is a hot topic now. Yet there still seems to be a kind of separate-but-equal mentality, where communities want their dementia living spaces to look just like their spaces for independent living, but with locked exit doors.

Of course, they want the space to be beautiful and to show our loved ones with dementia that they are valued equally. However, sometimes communities are unsure of how to also create a space that encourages movement, activity, socialization, and purpose.

I just had a conversation with an administrator of a continuing care community who was hugely disappointed that they had spent a staggering amount of money (in the high multi-millions) on their dementia neighborhood—and yet he said the space has zero functionality for the residents living there. The space does not encourage mobility or engage the interest of the residents. In fact, the residents congregate near the exit door and sit there all day. Sound familiar?
 

Let’s start with fresh ideas and a new purpose of creating a Dementia Capable Society by designing dementia capable living environments.


Join me this February at the Environments for Aging Expo & Conference. We’ll discuss how to facilitate a person’s best ability to function according to their cognitive level, their needs, their interests, and their preferences—and how to work all that very important information into your designs.
 

I’ll be presenting the Dementia Capable Care: Foundation Course as a pre-conference workshop at the event. There you’ll learn a person-centered framework for helping people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia be safe and feel purpose, accomplishment, and joy.

You’ll also learn how to focus care and design on a person’s abilities—not merely their disabilities. We’ll tailor the workshop to your needs according to your field, your challenges, your questions, your residents, and your goals for meeting their needs. And you’ll come away with deeper insight into:
  • The stages of dementia.
  • Care techniques that focus on the whole person.
  • Guiding principles to design spaces that facilitate your residents’ abilities, safety, orientation, and feelings of home and belonging.
Here are some of the ideas our previous participants have crafted:
 
 
I can’t wait to share the Dementia Capable Care approach with professionals like you who are as passionate about helping those living with dementia as I am.
 
I hope to see you there!
 
Here are all the details:
 
Dementia Capable Care: Foundation
Sunday, February 26, 2017
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Read about the pre-conference workshop
 
EFA Expo & Conference
February 26 – March 1, 2017
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
Register for the event