Is your ward dementia friendly? – The Enhancing the Healing Environment Assessment Tool
Developing supportive design for people with dementia: design principles
Two new resources are now available to download free from The King’s Fund’s web site http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/current_projects/enhancing_the_healing_environment/ehe_design.html
The first, ‘Is your ward dementia friendly’ is an environmental assessment tool which has been designed to be used by people with dementia and carers together with clinical or estates staff to assess the physical environment . The assessment tool can be used in the full range of hospital settings where people with dementia and delirium are cared for including general medical and surgical wards, outpatient departments, continuing care wards and mental health assessment units. Designed to be user friendly it has been developed and tested with carers and staff who have participated in the Enhancing the Healing Environment (EHE) Programme.
The design principles, which are known to support, encourage and enable people with cognitive problems or dementia in unfamiliar buildings, have been developed to reflect current best practice and the learning from the EHE programme. They are intended as a guide for organisations who wish to create more supportive hospital environments for people with cognitive problems or dementia.
