Designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing

CPC member Professor Alison Bowes at the University of Stirling is leading a new project called ‘Designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing (DesHCA)’. The aim of the project is to identify scalable and sustainable design improvements to homes which provide support for healthy cognitive ageing, enabling us, as we age, to continue living in our preferred environments as we experience cognitive change.

DesHCA is funded by the UKRI Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund under the Healthy Ageing Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme. Professor Bowes said, “Older people are integral to DesHCA and their health is at its heart. We know that people’s homes can make the experience of cognitive changes more difficult, or can enable continuing inclusion and a sense of self worth and self-esteem.

“This project brings together a multidisciplinary team involving stakeholders from all areas of housing provision, including people experiencing ageing and cognitive change, architects and designers, housing experts, planners, builders and housing providers, to identify housing innovations that can support living better for longer with cognitive change.”

The project will design and build virtual and real living spaces that will act as demonstrators and test-beds for innovations to support healthy cognitive ageing. These designs will be evaluated from stakeholder points of view, then considered at a larger scale to examine their real-world feasibility. DesHCA has a unique opportunity to feed directly into the UK and Scottish Government City Region Deal for Central Scotland (Stirling and Clackmannanshire), providing groundwork for local housing developments. The focus of this is sustainable, lifetime health, community and economic development, which addresses deprivation and inequality.

Professor Bowes added, “DesHCA’s aim is to identify home design improvements which enable people to continue living in their preferred environments through changes such as significant cognitive impairment and dementia diagnoses. “In the longer term, the project will guide improvements to existing housing and provide tools for future developers to inform their decisions about housing, with a view to meeting the needs of the world’s ageing population.”

Posted 24/06/2021 15:02