Centre for Policy on Ageing



The impact of improved environment in a care home
Author(s)	Stephen Abbott, Mary Birken, Julienne Meyer
Journal title	Journal of Dementia Care, vol 24, no 6, November-December 2016
Publisher	Hawker Publications, November-December 2016
Pages	pp 23-25
Source	www.careinfo.org
Keywords	Dementia ; Architectural design [care homes] ; Attitude ; Residents [care homes] ; Care home staff ; Evaluation.
Annotation	The authors describe the findings of an evaluation of environmental improvements carried out in a care home for people with dementia, looking in detail at the views of care staff. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 25 staff about the care home's post-refurbishment environment as a place to live, work or visit. Three themes emerged from the data: impacts on residents and staff; differing views on 'homeliness'; and that environmental design alone is not enough. The article concludes that a high quality physical environment is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for good care for people with dementia. Other factors identified as important were a flexible approach to the social environment, fully accessible social spaces, and an emphasis on homeliness in all its aspects. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-170120251 A
Classmark	EA: KW:YB3: DP: KX: QRM: 4C
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.