Age-related changes and impairments can make it more difficult to understand and navigate the built environment. These can be sensory, mobility or cognitive impairments, and sometimes a combination, which can affect functioning, behaviour, independence, and ultimately, quality of life.
VIDEO
BPA Architect - Liz Fuggle, on Hospital Design
The importance of design
Understanding such impairments is the first step towards creating living environments which support the needs of older people and those with dementia, keeping them safe from dangers such as falls, which can have a devastating effect on an older person; allowing the freedom and confidence to use their abilities to the fullest extent, in all things from the mundane to the creative; aiding memory in day-to-day living; and reinforcing personal identity.
The challenge is to design enabling buildings thoughtfully, with concern for the people who will live there.
Click the links below to find out about the importance of individual aspects of design.
Reproduced with the thanks to Stirling Dementia Centre
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