DESIGN CRITERIA FOR ALZHEIMERS SPECIAL CARE PROGRAM

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In the field of dementia care, professionals and researchers consider an appropriate physical environment to be an effective therapeutic element in the delivery of quality care for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementing illnesses. Current research suggests that in the next decade ten thousand or more special care units (SCUs) and day care programs will be established with therapeutic design features that are intended to better support these residents. This project's long-term objective is to develop a system of design criteria and tools that care settings, including homes, adult day health centers, residential care and nursing care facilities, can use to create therapeutic environments for such individuals. Specifically, the project will test and modify the therapeutic efficacy of a set of design criteria that the principal investigators developed over the last two years through a literature review and expert consensus process. The project will produce a manual and computerized data collection forms which can be customized by each user so that they can complete a post-occupancy evaluation and design process for a therapeutic care environment. Families, facilities, and design professionals can purchase this system to evaluate existing, or to renovate or create new therapeutic environments.