The 4th Dementia??

I have been working on a nursing home project that involves designing an outdoor area for dementia patients. At first I was a little taken back by the idea until I researched into what the check list would consist of and design features that needed to be incorporated within.

Dementia is the

"deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain. It is sometimes accompanied by emotional disturbance and personality changes."

- Stedman's Medical Dictionary

When designing for patients with dementia or other related illnesses, I was quickly reminded that designers need to walk in many different shoes throughout their career; to not only satisfy the brief while surrounded by a myriad of constraints but evolve and encourage the development of those fastidious conditions.

Creating an enclosed environment for the user without feeling restricted in any possible way may sound easy when dealing with dementia patients; Unfortunately however they are notorious for wandering, with their upbeat levels of activity creates an avenue for danger to be looming around every corner. I have always been interested in photography where the photographer leaves the viewer pondering what's just around the corner. The idea of a path being one of journey and destination. The sense of discovery and the unknown.

                                                     [Image: The Rocks, Sydney].

                                             [Image: Colo-I-Suva Forest Park, Fiji].

 

                                                     [Image: The Rocks, Sydney].

It would definitely be one if those out of body experiences to look into the minds of dementia patients and see the world through their eyes. To sense what they sense and to feel what they feel. For one day. One week. One month? That's the purpose of a designer...