26
ROUND TABLE REVIEW
“Good practice in dementia is going to benefit everybody,” she said. Fiona Walsh articulated the key problem for people with dementia in experiencing facilities is having to share an “institutional environment with 40 or 50 residents – none of us want to live like that.” She said that tailoring spaces for each person was therefore unachievable, and so the industry “need to come up with some baseline, and from that we can adapt.” Rob Hayles concluded the first session by capturing the five essential factors for supportive facilities: comfort, physical safety, psychological safety, enabling a “therapeutic base,” and connections which are “meaningful and worthwhile.” He added that the extra money put into private care facilities wasn’t the key factor: “Money doesn’t actually mean getting it right. It actually means more chances of getting it wrong.”
Solutions
The second session included a deep dive into key practical aspects of key design and product specification aspects for creating supporting dementia environments. As well as looking at flooring, colour and underfloor heating, delegates discussed the merits of flexible spaces, spaces for socialising, the therapeutic effects of light, and the viability of post-occupancy studies.
Coatings & colour
There are established principles and guidance for avoiding reflective surfaces and patterns in flooring, and design to prevent people becoming distressed or confused. The ability of people living with dementia to see contrast and delineate different surfaces deteriorates with their level of cognitive impairment; the 30 point rule within The Equality Act of 2010 requires a minimum variance of 30 Light Reflectance Value points between ‘critical’ surfaces like walls and floors to give residents enough visual contrast to safely negotiate their environment and feel a degree of independence. However, there are contrasting views as to how strictly this should be applied in every case. Donna Taylor, colour design manager at Johnstone’s Trade Paints asked: “How do different stakeholders, such as individuals living with dementia, caregivers, manufacturers, and architects etc, perceive the importance of the 30 point rule between critical surfaces, and are there varying opinions on its strictness?” Eef Hogervorst said rigid application was not necessary, it could be applied as needed by informed designers. Taylor warned: “A lot of customers have the mindset that we have to achieve that maximum 30% between critical surfaces, but have a misconception that it has to be applied to multiple surfaces.” Lesley Palmer explained that 30% has been “removed as an essential requirement, it’s no longer a mandatory part of any accreditation, because the research is still very light in that area.” Taylor added: “There’s no ‘one scheme fits all,’ you need to design something that will work for both.” Rob Hayles asserted that the 30 point rule is “irrelevant,” and advocated for flexibility, according to need, “If somebody needs a change, it can be done.”
Flooring
Amtico Flooring has put a large focus into identifying how its offerings align with healthcare sector; Sophia Wise, Head Of Regional Commercial UK & Ireland, wanted to know how they could “better support the design community.” She asked the round table: “What else do you need from manufacturers?”
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK IN-DEPTH
Delegates (including Lesley Palmer of Stirling University, Ashley Cooper of sponsor WMS, and Clare Cameron of PLP enjoyed an in-depth and frank conversation
INDUSTRY RECOMMENDATIONS
The round table delegates’ key recommendations to the industry for creating supportive dementia care spaces
• Clare Cameron, PLP Architects: Architecture schools to try and include design for dementia and invite experts in to open the eyes of young designers.
• Robert MacDonald, independent consultant: It’s vitally important that designers become more aware of the spatial difficulties that users live with 24 hours a day.
• Rob Hayles, Citizens with Experience: There are commonalities, and transferables, but we must understand and design for the differences.
• Sophia Wise, Amtico Flooring: To share best practice in some kind of forum where people could show designs, ask questions, and showcase the work that they’ve done.
• Lesley Palmer, Stirling University: There’s very little in the RIBA Plan of Work about the joy of working with end users; think about how to integrate co-design.
• Ashley Cooper, WMS Underfloor Heating: We need a group to share best practice and feed into, there is loads of information we could offer.
• Paul Rodgers, University of Strathclyde: There are some amazing and talented people across universities and in practice across the UK, and we just have to reach out and find them.
• Donna Taylor, Johnstone’s Trade Paints: Let’s create a central point where everybody can lean on each other and get advice and education.
• Fiona Walsh, DDS Architects: Universities need to take this on board, it needs to be ingrained in design, we need to move this knowledge into the mainstream.
• Eef Hogervorst, Loughborough University: What’s good for people with dementia is good for everybody; it’s good design – we need to let go of the stigma.
ADF NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
