Construction of a new dementia-friendly home, aimed at learning how better to support those living with the condition, will begin on the BRE Innovation Park this Autumn.
The Victorian house will be adapted to cater for different types, and stages, of the debilitating illness, and is aimed at allowing sufferers to live independently by addressing their day-to-day needs.
The tailored features of the converted terraced house have been designed by researchers from Loughborough University and building science centre BRE.
Once complete, it will act as a show home and give developers, care providers and families an opportunity to learn about better ways to equip a home to help people with dementia.
As part of Loughborough’s ongoing research in this area, academics will also study how the features are used with a view to further improving ways to support homeowners with dementia.
The converted building’s features will include:
• Clear lines of sight and colour-coded paths through the home that help guide people towards each specific room
• Increased natural lighting – proven to help people stay alert during the day and to sleep better at night
• Noise reduction features – to lower the chances of stress.
• Simple switches and heating controls, and safety sensors in high risks areas such as the kitchen
Professor Jacqui Glass, of Loughborough’s School of Civil and Building Engineering, is the University’s principal investigator on the £300,000 project.
Jacqui sad: “With this project, we want to show how design solutions can be to be easily integrated within most current homes and communities to improve people’s lives.”
The demonstration house is based on the ‘design for dementia principals’ previously developed by Dr Rob McDonald and Bill Halsall at Liverpool John Moores University.
Director of BRE Innovation Parks, Dr David Kelly, said: “Our aim here is to show how homes can be adapted to better meet the needs of dementia sufferers and delay the need for care by the state for months or even years. Currently, the average cost of state care is between £30,000 and £40,000 per annum. Creating environments which allow people to live independently at home for longer could save a significant amount. That money could instead be channelled into research that alleviates the condition and reduces the emotional stress to the individual.”
Dementia care costs families around £18 billion a year and affects about 850,000 people in the UK. The figure is expected to rise to more than one million in the UK by 2025. Two-thirds of the cost of dementia is paid by those who suffer from the condition and their families. This is in contrast to other conditions, such as heart disease and cancer, where the NHS provides care that is free at the point of use.
