Environmental Assessment Protocol for Special Care Units

Research is providing increasing evidence of the potential therapeutic effectsof the physical environment for people with dementia in long-term care settings. Despite this, facilitieshave limited options for learning how to create more supportive environments. Hence few facilities areincorporating those environmental features cited as important in the research literature. Existing optionsare either generalized (conferences or design guides) or expensive (hiring a specialized consultant). ThisSBIR will develop in environmental self-assessment protocol, providing an inexpensive means to conductfacility-specific assessments. The protocol will be derived using both rational and empirical techniques.First, an expert panel of consultants will participate in the development and refinement of an exhaustivelist of environmental attributes posited to be therapeutic to cognitively impaired individuals, which willbe translated into the assessment protocol. Secondly, this preliminary protocol will be administered in60 SCUs. Third, the data will be subjected to factor analysis to empirically derive the conceptuallymeaningful items for inclusion in the final protocol. Facilities using the product will send the raw datato I.D.E.A.S., Inc. for analysis and will receive a report accompanied by information necessary to guidethe design of appropriate environmental modifications.