Design Criteria for Alzheimers Special Care Program

In the field of dementia care, professionals and researchers consider an appropriate physicalenvironment to be an effective therapeutic element in the delivery of quality care for individuals withAlzheimer's disease and related dementing illnesses. Current research suggests that in the next decadeten thousand or more special care units (SCUs) and day care programs will be established withtherapeutic design features that are intended to better support these residents. This project will developa system of design criteria and tools that care settings, including homes, adult day health centers,residential care and nursing care facilities, can use to create therapeutic environments for suchindividuals. Specifically, the project will test and modify the therapeutic efficacy of a set of designcriteria that the principal investigators developed over the last two years through a literature review andexpert consensus process. The project will produce a manual and computerized data collection formswhich can be customized by each user so that they can complete a post-occupancy evaluation anddesign process for a therapeutic care environment. Families, facilities, and design professionals canpurchase this system to evaluate existing, or to renovate or create new therapeutic environments.