Web-based Environmental Design Lexicon for Dementia care

描述(由申请人提供)：该项目将为设计师和长期护理提供者创建一个基于网络的痴呆症设计词典，提供与设计相关的信息的全面汇编，这些信息是：系统地组织起来的，容易搜索的，与潜在结果(居民、工作人员、家庭和组织)相联系的，并对影响/结果的信心进行加权。这个项目建立在以前资助的一个项目的基础上，该项目开发了该词典的基本内容。这个项目的起源源于心理学、社会和医学研究在为设计决策提供信息方面的不足。物质环境对护理的组织方式有重大影响，决定了一切，从居民发现自己在一起吃饭和活动的群体规模，到他们互动(或不互动)的人，再到基本护理问题，如保持节制的能力。然而，老年学研究对设计的最大影响是在全球抽象水平上--让设计师从“易读性”、“感官刺激”和“自主性”等方面进行思考。然而，设计师被要求在他们的决策中进行一次“信念的飞跃”，决定哪些设计决策将推进诸如“最大限度地提高自主性”等目标。这些决定往往基于设计、行业、民间传说或类比推理。因此，长期护理环境中的个人，特别是占所有疗养院居民50%至80%的痴呆症患者，可能被迫生活在不支持其需求和能力的环境中。该项目将通过创建一个高度可访问的、以研究为基础的综合数据库来解决目前的这些限制，该数据库将信息加权为1)基于研究的信息，2)反映一组痴呆症设计专家的共识，或3)轶事而没有证据。 该项目的第一阶段有三个具体目标。目标1是将通过阿尔茨海默氏症协会赠款产生的大量信息的一部分转换为数据库格式，该格式反映了使最终产品既全面又可供最终用户使用所必需的关系结构。目标2将是在潜在用户(包括设计师和长期护理临床医生)的样本上对该数据库进行试点测试，以确保它易于导航和理解。如果产生的产品太复杂，客户觉得太难使用，它就不会成功。目标3将是评估数据库作为信息工具的效力。最终，我们的目标是将该词典用于为痴呆症患者创造支持性环境。第二阶段将把剩余的词典信息格式化到数据库中，将其翻译成用户友好的基于Web的资源，并再次测试其在通知设计过程中的效用。第三阶段包括最终产品开发和市场渗透计划。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will create a Web-based dementia design lexicon for designers and long-term care providers that provides a comprehensive assembly of design-related information which is: systematically organized, easily searchable, linked with potential outcomes (resident, staff, family, and organization), and weighted for confidence in the impact/outcome. This project builds on a previously funded project, which has developed the basic content of the lexicon. The genesis of this project stems from the inadequacy of psychological, social and medical research to inform design decision-making. The physical environment has a significant impact on how care is organized, determining everything from the size of groups residents find themselves in for meals and activities to the people they interact (or don't interact) with, to basic care issues such as the ability to maintain continence. However, the greatest impact of gerontological research upon design has been at a global level of abstraction--getting designers to think in terms such as "legibility," "sensory stimulation," and "autonomy." Yet designers are then required to take a "leap of faith," in their decision-making as to what design decisions would forward such goals as "maximizing autonomy." These decisions are often based upon design industry folklore or reasoning by analogy. Thus individuals in long-term care settings, and particularly people with dementia, who comprise between 50 and 80% of all nursing home residents, may be forced to live in settings that are not supportive of their needs and abilities. This project would address these current limitations by creating a highly accessible, research-based, comprehensive database that weights information as being 1) research-based, 2) reflecting the consensus of a group of dementia design experts, or 3) anecdote and without evidence. Phase I of this project has three specific aims. Aim #1 is to translate a portion of the significant amount of information generated through the Alzheimer's Association grant into a database format that reflects the relational structure necessary to make the ultimate product both comprehensive and useable to the end-users. Aim #2 will be to pilot test the database on a sample of potential users (both designers and long-term care clinicians) to ensure it is easily navigated and understandable. If the resulting product is so complex customers find it too difficult to use, it will not be successful. Aim #3 will be to evaluate the efficacy of the database as an informational tool. Ultimately, the goal is that the lexicon will be used to create supportive environments for people with dementia. Phase II will format the rest of the lexicon information into the database, translate it into a user-friendly Web-based resource, and again test its utility in informing the design process. Phase III includes final product development and market penetration plans.