Evidence-Based Design for Dementia: Findings from the Past Five Years (Designmatters‪)‬

There is growing evidence that the design of the built environment, by itself and in combination with organizational policies and procedures, has a direct and measurable impact on the physical and psychosocial functioning of residents with dementia, which may translate into higher quality of life. Traditionally, the physical environment has not been considered an active component of treatment. Fortunately, this is beginning to change. There were three excellent reviews of research on shared residential/long-term care environments for people with dementia published between 2000 and 2002 (1-3) and one in 2009. (4) The chapter by Day and Calkins (1) included not only what the research literature reports, but whether and how that information was informing the actual design of long-term care settings for people with dementia. Rather than replicate what has already been published, this article will focus primarily on research conducted since these reviews. Readers seeking more detailed information on these studies can contact the author.