Everything is gone

We recently came across a very interesting research paper, which had been presented as a Poster Presentation at the ADI Conference in Budapest. The paper was titled “Living with dementia in a nursing home, as described by persons with dementia” (M Mjørud, K Engedal, J Resvik, M Kirkevøld, J Røsvik).

Interviews were conducted with residents with various stages of dementia and the results gave an insight into their life within a nursing home. One of the results was particularly poignant as residents felt “Everything is gone’. They felt they had lost their old life, including family, work, home and sometimes self. They missed all the normal things that made up their life.”

So from our perspective, how can we ensure the designs we create address some of those issues? Creating environments that encourage families to visit and stay longer and spaces that inspire normal everyday tasks for residents is very achievable. We look forward to Marit Mjørud’s paper being published very soon. The paper will be available for viewing on our blog.