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Media 28 Sep 2020

World Alzheimer Report 2020

World Alzheimer Report 2020 – interview with Jannette Spiering

The World Alzheimer Report 2020

Design, Dignity, Dementia: dementia-related design and the built environment

The World Alzheimer Report 2020 looks at design progress to date, best practice, pioneers and innovators, design principles, application, regional and cultural contexts, the importance of including people with dementia in every stage of the design process, and poignantly the role of design during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.

The report, a global perspective of dementia related design that takes a cross cultural approach, reflects regional and economic differences and low- middle- and high- income countries, and will consider urban versus rural settings. It highlights the role of innovation, entrepreneurship and the importance of aesthetics.

It also looks to benchmark against progress made in the physical disabilities movement and demands the same progress is now made in design solutions for people living with dementia, calling for design solutions to be included in
national governments’ responses to dementia, including in their national plans, recognising design as a vital, non-pharmacological intervention.

Across two volumes, including 84 case studies, the report looks at design in home/domestic settings, day and residential care, hospitals and public buildings and spaces. The report makes a strong statement that design for dementia is 30 years behind the physical disabilities movement – and that this must change!

Dementia design follows simple principles, is cost effective and dramatically improves enjoyment and safety of built environments for those living with dementia. Dementia design can enable people to live in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. On World Alzheimer’s Day, ADI calls on governments to embed design in their national dementia responses under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

To coincide with this report, we invited eight innovators, pioneers, architects and researchers in the field, to sit down and talk about what is most important to them and what inspires them when it comes to designing spaces for and with people living with dementia. While each offers a unique perspective, all interviewees share the common goal of trying to advance the role design has to play, sitting alongside other vital therapeutic and non-pharmacological interventions.

You can find their interviews below, as well as more information about them on page 99 under the ‘Pioneers and Innovators’ chapter of our World Alzheimer Report.

Read the report
Launch event
Additional Materials