Design stage evaluation tools for residential dementia care environments
ISSN: 0263-2772
Article publication date: 3 June 2021
Issue publication date: 4 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The independence and well-being of people with dementia can be significantly influenced by the design of the physical environments around them. Several assessment tools exist to evaluate the dementia design quality of existing residential aged care facilities but, to date, none have been formally identified as suitable for use during the design process. This paper aims to examine the feasibility of re-purposing existing post-occupancy tools for use during the design process, while mapping the influence of design stages on resulting dementia design quality.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature searches identified audit tools for residential aged care settings. After reliability screening, three tools were analysed in-depth, mapping their suitability for use during the design process.
Findings
The study confirmed that existing tools can be re-purposed for design stage use and identified that early design stages have a larger influence on overall dementia design quality than previously thought.
Research limitations/implications
Non-English language publications were not reviewed. Searches may not have identified other existing audit tools for residential care environments.
Practical implications
The ability to assess proposals at key stages of design may help improve the dementia design quality of future residential aged care environments – potentially enhancing the lives of ever-larger numbers of people with dementia.
Originality/value
According to the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known paper to consider formal design-stage evaluation of dementia design quality and the first to identify the relative influence of key stages of design on the resulting dementia design quality.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on doctoral research undertaken at University of Newcastle, Australia, and supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Citation
Quirke, M., Ostwald, M.J., Fleming, R., Taylor, M. and Williams, A. (2021), "Design stage evaluation tools for residential dementia care environments", Facilities, Vol. 39 No. 13/14, pp. 828-842. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-09-2020-0106
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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