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Designing for Dementia Dementia can affect people from the age of 40. With about one in every 20 people over-65 suffering from the disease, by the age of 80 about one in five are affected. Yet care provisions and older adult facilities have been identified in the Draft of the Health Building Notes as largely unfit for purpose. Clearly, building design must respond to the demand for quality dementia provisions and care facilities. A report by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust and University of Oxford released this month (Feb 2010), titled Dementia 2010, reveals dementia as the greatest medical challenge of our age. As the press continues to reveal the flaws in elderly care, how is building design working to improve provisions and facilitate a better healthcare service for older people? Campaigners claim that half of all dementia patients treated in hospital end up in a worse state. However, new mental health facilities are being built, which recognise the need for specially designed environments for older people’s care. These environments are being designed to alleviate conditions rather than aggravate them. One of these facilities is Nightingale Associates' recently opened £7m older people’s unit at St. James Hospital in Portsmouth, which provides a dedicated organic and dementia provision. The Limes is a 36-bed mental health unit for older people. The building has been specially designed to house patients with different needs in separate wards, as well as providing both male and female accommodation. A 14-bed ward is designed for functional patients while there is a 22-bed ward for organic patients. Further sub-wards allow patients with challenging behaviour to be specially monitored. To support the wards there is a central therapy area, staff facilities and an entrance area for staff and visitors. Each ward has its own secure garden for patient recreation. There are also central therapy gardens, in which patients carry out therapy tasks under the supervision of an occupational therapist. Another project by Nightingale Associates, currently in the design stages, is the £23.75m mental health unit at Aylesbury’s Manor House Hospital. This is another new development proposed to provide 40 beds for older people. It will be split into two 20-bed wards: one for dementia patients, and the other for functional illness. The other 40 beds will be for adults of working age and will again be split into two 20-bed wards: one female and one male. The demand to provide similar dedicated dementia care facilities is almost certain to increase. “As the average age of people in the developed world steadily increases, the numbers of people needing support and treatment for dementia means that this issue is the ‘elephant in the room’ - being studiously avoided by most governments,” says founder of Nightingale Associates, Mike Nightingale. Whether or not we can use advances in technology to bridge the gaps in older people’s care, the need to respond to the demand for elderly care provisions and facilities will be important not only to governments, but to all of us as potential end users. |
The Limes Older Adult MHU, St. James' Hospital, Portsmouth 
Manor Hospital Mental Health Unit, Aylesbury 
Abstract Nightingale Associates scoops Building Better Healthcare award
Nightingale Associates received the Patient Environment Class Award for Best Interior Design at the Building Better Healthcare Awards. 
Nightingale Associates wins £840m ‘super hospital’ contract 
Practice defies recession with largest ever win, in redevelopment of Glasgow’s Southern General hospital. |
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Disclosed 
Have you heard about the ‘Design for Patient Dignity’ project, being run by the Design Council for the Department of Health? The aim of the project is to improve patient experience in hospital with particular emphasis on the separation of male and female patients through innovative product and service design. Nightingale Associates in collaboration with Billings Jackson Design and SAS International is one of six design teams charged with solving the challenging briefs set by the Council. The unveiling of the full-scale prototype will take place on the 23 to 25 March. If you would like to be the first to experience and view the products please email for further details. |
Events 
This month has seen Nightingale Associates lead the debate on the future of architecture and design. Supporting New London Architecture (NLA), Nick Durham, Architect and Studio Director showcased the exemplar ‘green hospital’ Ysbyty Alltwen at the Capital Health Seminar in London. More.
In Milan, Mike Nightingale, Architect and Founder presented on current scientific innovations and the need for flexibility in hospital design. More.
Forthcoming events include: Design and Health Australasia, Sydney, Australia Education 2010, London, UK |
The Exchange 
For us to truly shape the future of our communities and the way they are designed, it is so important to share, discuss and build on ideas. If you would like to get in touch or stay informed, just use one of the links below:
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