DEMENTIA DESIGN


When the design and manufacturing team at


Shackletons wanted to learn more


about designing for dementia; they turned to industry


expert, Dr Claire Craig, from Sheffield Hallam University. She has helped the team to


understand what it is like to live with dementia and how design interventions can be applied to help those with dementia maintain a good quality of life. Here are her insights.


Building homes for the individual


Q. What does it feel like to suffer from dementia? A. Everyone is different. There’s a lovely quote ‘Once you’ve met one person with dementia, you’ve met one person with dementia’. Everybody is completely unique, but what we do


know, through seeing people with dementia talking about their experiences, is that by the time you have a diagnosis, the biggest thing is that you’ve lost your confidence. The struggles people have with memory, navigation, and perception erode confidence. That’s one of the biggest challenges people face at the beginning.


Q. How does the condition affect their quality of life? A. Living with dementia varies enormously for people. It would depend on a person’s biography and previous life roles and physical wellbeing. If you’re an older person with lots of physical


problems, you’ll experience dementia in a very different way. What people with dementia have taught me is that it’s about ‘just now’.


Q. What do you believe is the best way to communicate with people with dementia? A. There’s a huge amount of sensitivity that’s required when communicating. Dementia is a long-term neurological condition and when we live with any long-term condition, we are still drawing on all the memories and resources


> mhdf magazine 13


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