Dementia care design specialist, Becky Simmons of Leonard Design, took part in the 2021 Mental Health & Dementia Facilities Virtual Forum.
Organised by Stable Events, The Mental Health & Dementia Facilities Virtual Forum was held over two days with six speakers. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the annual networking event was held entirely online to great success.
The event included speakers from across the healthcare sector including:
- Beatrice Fraenkel of Mersey Care NHS Trust
- Becky Simmons of Leonard Design
- Harry Wright of Fireworks Fire Protection
- Ruairi Reeves of Medical Architecture
- Simon Crosby of Corstorphine & Wright
- Steve Lennon of HLM Architects
It’s about designing to bring back the community element, encouraging autonomy through having smaller groups of residents so that people are more likely to make friends with one another.
Designing for Dementia Care
Becky Simmons was invited to talk at the event to discuss Leonard Design’s work with Church Farm Care, a care provider and client. Rusticus Care Home and Skylarks Care Home are two revolutionary dementia care design projects that are currently under construction.
Simmons said: “It makes us really sad when we see care homes with small windows, dark interiors, no colour, and long corridors with no breaks in them. It creates boredom and it shouldn’t happen.
“We are trying to create inclusive environments and these are so easy to deliver.
“It’s about designing to bring back the community element, encouraging autonomy through having smaller groups of residents so that people are more likely to make friends with one another.”
Often an over-looked design element of dementia care homes are the corridors and connecting spaces. Simmons’ design addresses this shortfall to create rich, engaging circulation spaces for residents.
“These need to be designed as well as any other space or room,” she said.
“They need to have break-out areas and artwork to act as a distraction.
“Patients, residents and service users often spend as much time in corridors as they do in their rooms so it’s about thinking outside the box.
“It’s about quality of life for residents, not about money.”
Further Information
The next Mental Health & Dementia Facilities Forum will be held on 18-19 November 2021, for more information click here. If you are interested in the work that Leonard Design are doing with Church Farm Care, take a look at the revolutionary dementia care design projects Rusticus Care Home and Skylarks Care Home in our portfolio. Furthermore, if you would like to talk to our team regarding dementia care design, please get in touch via email at office@leonard.design
