ABSTRACT
Enabling design for people with dementia (and people with other cognitive and perceptual problems such as delirium, some learning disabilities and some brain tumours) is a major, and often neglected, non-pharmaceutical intervention. Using stories of five individuals in transition from one place to another, this chapter aims to provide some basic understanding of the importance of designing environments that assist, rather than further disable, older people with dementia. The individual stories demonstrate both helpful and unhelpful features of buildings that can make a real difference to the wellbeing, independence, safety and behaviour of people with dementia. Examples of helpful features include strong contrast, good lighting and high levels of visual access. Examples of unhelpful qualities include lack of familiar objects, noise and clutter.
