Sensory enrichment for people living with dementia: increasing the benefits of multisensory environments in dementia care through design
Sensory enrichment for people living with dementia: increasing the benefits of multisensory environments in dementia care through design
Recent research has investigated the impact of design on providing multisensory experience for people with dementia living in care homes, particularly the quality of multisensory environments (MSEs). This interdisciplinary research evolved from a broad consideration of the role of design in dementia care enhancing the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their carers. Previous research suggests that using MSE in dementia care as a resource for meaningful engagement has beneficial effects and many MSEs have been installed in UK care homes. However, evidence indicates that these spaces often fail to benefit the residents causing staff becoming discouraged and subsequently the room becoming unused. A study investigating the current facilitation of MSE in sixteen UK care homes revealed two key issues: (1) set-up and design of existing MSEs in care environments is, in most cases, not suitable for older people; (2) there is a lack of knowledge and information for care practitioners for facilitating sensory activities and environments. Based on these findings, design criteria improving usability and accessibility for people with dementia were established and user-centred design recommendations developed. As a first step towards closing the knowledge gap amongst healthcare practitioners in providing multisensory experience, initial design guidelines were published as an online resource.
115-133
Jakob, Anke
9ab1b906-f3c7-4468-a5ca-f118ab5a69e2
Collier, Lesley
2ea87419-cbc4-4ef3-95e0-516b510b0cab
2017
Jakob, Anke
9ab1b906-f3c7-4468-a5ca-f118ab5a69e2
Collier, Lesley
2ea87419-cbc4-4ef3-95e0-516b510b0cab
Jakob, Anke and Collier, Lesley
(2017)
Sensory enrichment for people living with dementia: increasing the benefits of multisensory environments in dementia care through design.
Design for Health, 1 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/24735132.2017.1296274).
Abstract
Recent research has investigated the impact of design on providing multisensory experience for people with dementia living in care homes, particularly the quality of multisensory environments (MSEs). This interdisciplinary research evolved from a broad consideration of the role of design in dementia care enhancing the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their carers. Previous research suggests that using MSE in dementia care as a resource for meaningful engagement has beneficial effects and many MSEs have been installed in UK care homes. However, evidence indicates that these spaces often fail to benefit the residents causing staff becoming discouraged and subsequently the room becoming unused. A study investigating the current facilitation of MSE in sixteen UK care homes revealed two key issues: (1) set-up and design of existing MSEs in care environments is, in most cases, not suitable for older people; (2) there is a lack of knowledge and information for care practitioners for facilitating sensory activities and environments. Based on these findings, design criteria improving usability and accessibility for people with dementia were established and user-centred design recommendations developed. As a first step towards closing the knowledge gap amongst healthcare practitioners in providing multisensory experience, initial design guidelines were published as an online resource.
Text
Sensory enrichment for people living with dementia: increasing the benefits of Multisensory Environments in dementia care through design
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 14 February 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 March 2017
Published date: 2017
Organisations:
Leadership & Health Systems
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Local EPrints ID: 407612
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/407612
PURE UUID: 04b48f31-2791-48d5-8d4a-42280e83351e
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Date deposited: 16 Apr 2017 17:01
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:11
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Contributors
Author:
Anke Jakob
Author:
Lesley Collier
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