Dementia-Friendly Environment- Colors

Colors could affect and even alter the way we perceive the world! How we can utilize colors and contribute to a dementia-friendly environment? The aging process involves deficiency in visual effectiveness and especially for people with dementia. Therefore, they perceive colors such as violet, blue, and blue-green to be darker due to the fact that those colors have a shorter wavelengths. Some visual symptoms are due to the aging process while some are in the result of dementia. Researches urged that bright primary colors are much easier for dementia people to distinguish. And because people with dementia have a harder time to perceive the world in a three dimensional perspective, designers can take advantage of bright primary colors to create contracting floors and walls to assist people with dementia as well as ensure safety. However, it is important to be aware that complicated pattern or color variation need to be prevented because people with dementia usually perceive those elements into something dangerous or uncertain such as a hole or something falling down.

Dementia-Friendly Environment- Psychological Support

We have talked about the relationship between architectural characteristics and dementia-friendly environment. However, we haven't discussed the most powerful but invisible part— psychological support. Their feeling matters a lot! There are indicators that could identify whether the community has achieved to become a dementia-friendly environment.
Here are some major indicators that all of us can start to think about how we could take them into actions.

1. Understanding of dementia as a disease
Dementia is lack of public understanding and many family are afraid of seeking help from the professionals. Therefore, it is important to improve public perception towards the disease. We need to let people understand that they are not alone and we can face the disease positively. Also, the treatment is most effective when for the preliminary stage of the disease so having the disease be diagnosed earlier will help control and decrease the speed of the aging process. As elders start to reveal some dementia symptoms, their emotional health and memorization will be affected. We have to learn how to interact with them and respond their physical and mental needs.

2. Let people with dementia get involve
Public usually think that people with dementia needs assistance and ignore their aspirations of completing tasks on their own. It is the sense of achievement that contributes to the mental health of the elders. Understand their ability and personality is a key and allow them to accomplish certain tasks on their own will make their lives different. Family, caregivers, and the people surround dementia patient will also need to develop programs for dementia people to take part in and fully enjoy. We all feel positive when we can achieve something and we all need the feeling of "being needed".

Dementia-Friendly Environment- Circulation

Today I want to talk about the features I found from several journal articles that could possibly contribute to a dementia-friendly environment. I notice self-orientation is one of the biggest challenge for people with dementia so I look into floor plan configurations and try to find out if there is certain circulation that could assist way-finding.

Here are four circulation types the scholar researched on.

Some general findings include avoiding long corridors and making visual differences for various functional spaces to assist wayfinding ability and spatial orientation. Another research group focuses on floor plan and circulation design and discovers that L-shaped building seem to result in the best wayfinding performance. They also explores that residences live in corridor-like design reported gradually decrease in various ability. Some scholars suggest allowing a good amount of clear visual access so that the space will be easier for residences to navigate. It seems like the major design considerations include:
1. Create anchor point (point of reference) by utilizing visually and functionally significant design for spaces with different function.
2. Simple circulation with minimum turning points but avoid long corridors.
3. Maximize visual access so that residences will be able to identify where they are, where to go, and even recall where they intend to go.

Here is the findings on floor play layouts! Please stay tuned for more discoveries.