Six firms have been shortlisted for the DBA Inclusive Design Challenge 2008 - see the shortlist page for details. Entries were judged in January 2008, and the winner will be announced in an event at the Royal College of Art on 18 March 2008.
This year’s Challenge is sponsored by Sanctuary Care, a leading social housing provider with 52 Registered Care Homes, 5 Extra Care Schemes, 4 Home Care businesses, over 2300 staff and a turnover of £51 million and the London Centre for Dementia Care based at University College London. Their brief to which the six shortlisted teams responded is:
Greater longevity is a fact of life. People who have retired and are retiring over the next decade are overall likely to be healthier and to enjoy a better quality of life. However, old age is a major risk factor for many conditions including dementia, which is perhaps least well understood and most feared.
Currently, 560,000 people in this country have dementia and by 2020 this is set to rise to 750,000. Dementia is an umbrella term covering Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular dementia, and Dementia with Lewy Bodies and many other dementias that have different causes.
Characteristic to of all of them is short term memory loss, which makes it increasingly difficult for those affected to carry out such activities as personal care, household tasks, to communicate with others and maintain relationships, and socialise or to recognise familiar objects, surroundings or people.
In time, memory decline is often substantial but so much can be done in the early days of the illness to compensate for some of the disabilities that are created by the environments in which people with dementia live and improve people’s lives.
Government policy is driving forward a range of different approaches to helping people with dementia remain in their own homes including assistive technology. Attitudes are slowly changing so that we are more inclined to see the person with a dementia rather than a person with dementia.
Besides services and professional help, a range of other interventions are being developed to stimulate thinking and information processing including games, reminiscence, and aromatherapy. The role of design in enabling people with dementia to remain independent is potentially huge. There is good evidence that the provision of cues and clues can help people stay in touch with others, orientate themselves or navigate outdoor spaces. Even in the absence of a cure, future care and support is likely to include more imaginative approaches to care and support.
Among the questions those responding to this challenge might want to consider are:
The solutions can take the form of:
