Abstract
Mild Cognitive impairment (MCI) is the stage between healthy cognitive functioning and Dementia, in which individuals still live independently at home but develop difficulties related to memory, executive functioning, and decision-making. MCI is mainly managed with therapeutic activities such as physical exercise, cognitive training, nutrition, and occupational therapies. While individuals living with MCI tend to isolate themselves, social interactions are known for their potential to slow or interrupt cognitive decline, being an important therapeutic component for MCI. Previous studies show how the built environment affects social interactions for Dementia patients living in residential care facilities, specifically through the layout of spaces and furniture. However, it is not clear how the design of therapeutic settings can stimulate the same type of interaction among older adults with MCI. We conducted a survey with healthcare experts in MCI to evaluate whether spatial and furniture layout of therapeutic spaces could foster social interactions among older adults with MCI, and to identify what should be prioritized in the design of these spaces. Survey results showed 5 priorities when designing therapeutic spaces tailored to older adults with MCI: seating close and facing each other to facilitate conversation in the living areas; outdoors therapeutic environments with multi-sensory stimuli; visual access to natural environments; natural lighting in living and dining spaces to motivate their use; and seats available to everyone in the social areas. Our findings provide design recommendations that can improve social interactions in these types of settings, potentially contributing to reducing cognitive decline for their users.
Keywords
mild cognitive impairment; social interaction; spatial and furniture layout; therapeutic spaces
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.174
Citation
da Rosa, V., Herminia, M.,and Tonetto, L.M.(2023) Designing therapeutic and social spaces for older adults facing Mild Cognitive Impairment: Priorities in spatial and furniture layout, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.174
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
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Designing therapeutic and social spaces for older adults facing Mild Cognitive Impairment: Priorities in spatial and furniture layout
Mild Cognitive impairment (MCI) is the stage between healthy cognitive functioning and Dementia, in which individuals still live independently at home but develop difficulties related to memory, executive functioning, and decision-making. MCI is mainly managed with therapeutic activities such as physical exercise, cognitive training, nutrition, and occupational therapies. While individuals living with MCI tend to isolate themselves, social interactions are known for their potential to slow or interrupt cognitive decline, being an important therapeutic component for MCI. Previous studies show how the built environment affects social interactions for Dementia patients living in residential care facilities, specifically through the layout of spaces and furniture. However, it is not clear how the design of therapeutic settings can stimulate the same type of interaction among older adults with MCI. We conducted a survey with healthcare experts in MCI to evaluate whether spatial and furniture layout of therapeutic spaces could foster social interactions among older adults with MCI, and to identify what should be prioritized in the design of these spaces. Survey results showed 5 priorities when designing therapeutic spaces tailored to older adults with MCI: seating close and facing each other to facilitate conversation in the living areas; outdoors therapeutic environments with multi-sensory stimuli; visual access to natural environments; natural lighting in living and dining spaces to motivate their use; and seats available to everyone in the social areas. Our findings provide design recommendations that can improve social interactions in these types of settings, potentially contributing to reducing cognitive decline for their users.