Something as ordinary as patterned carpet, a dark doormat or a mirror can become confusing or frightening for someone living with dementia, prompting researchers to look at how better home design can help people remain safe and independent.
University of Auckland Professor Ngaire Kerse, a GP and co-director of the Centre for Co-Created Ageing Research, is leading a dementia-friendly design project aimed at making homes and aged-care facilities easier and safer to navigate. Pasted markdown
Dementia can affect how the brain processes visual information, making it harder to judge depth, distance and objects. Dark areas in patterned flooring can appear to be holes, while low-contrast furniture, modern touch controls and even mirrors can create difficulties or distress.
The project shows relatively simple changes can make a difference, including plain flooring, contrasting walls and furniture, clearly visible light switches and taps, removing low-level trip hazards and using visual cues to help identify important spaces such as bathrooms. Pasted markdown
The work also incorporates kaupapa Māori design principles for people living with mate wareware, including wairuatanga, whanaungatanga, māramatanga, manaakitanga and stronger connections between people, their whare and the whenua.
New dementia-friendly design courses have now been developed for whānau, caregivers, aged-care workers, people living with dementia and those involved in building and design.
The message is practical: sometimes relatively small changes to a whare can make a significant difference to safety, dignity, independence and the ability of kaumātua to remain connected to home and whānau for longer. Pasted markdown
#MateWareware #Dementia #DementiaDesign #NgaireKerse #Kaumatua #HauoraMaori #Whanau #AgeingWell #KaupapaMaori #Manaakitanga #Whanaungatanga #Wairuatanga #HealthyHomes #UniversityOfAuckland #Aotearoa #WaateaNews #RadioWaatea
