Let's not forget those who forget!

The project called ‘Let's not forget those who forget!' focuses on modifiable factors and the built environment relevant to individuals affected by dementia. In collaboration with colleagues from the School of Pharmacy and Barlett School this project aims to achieve a multidisciplinary approach and knowledge exchange on participatory design for environments for dementia.

This project aims to answer the following research questions:

What are the behavioural and mental changes for people affected with dementia as they progress with the disease?
What are the specific needs in terms of environment and build space for those affected by dementia?

In health care environment research, we know that the involvement of end-users, especially of patients, is critical for a biopsychosocial supportive environment. Yet, in the case of patients with dementia communication can be challenging and we need to establish special communication channels. There are already some communication tools used by care professionals but this knowledge has only partially crossed the field of participatory interventions such as art interventions. However, participatory build environment interventions which tend to be more complex involve only managers, staff and in some cases carers as we lack tools on how to involve patients, especially in progressed dementia. Our proposed set of activities aims to cover this gap via research activities and by developing a knowledge exchange environment between academia and the industry, in order to improve care for people living with dementia.

The project is funded by UKRI, UCL Grand Challenges and the Knowledge Exchange Innovation Fund.

Principal Investigator: Dr Evangelia Chrysikou

Co-Investigators: Dr Dorina Cadar & Dr Mine Orlu (University College London).

Contact: Dr Dorina Cadar (d.cadar@ucl.ac.uk)