Dementia: getting the environment right

An IHEEM-supported conference staged recently at Salford University by the University's Dementia Design Group (HEJ - November 2012), examined the impact that different hospital environments have on people with dementia. Ricardo Codinhoto of the International Dementia Design Network, a qualified architect with practical, teaching, and research experience, and his co-chair on the Network, Natalie Yates-Bolton, a lecturer in Nursing at the University, explain the thinking behind the Group's approach to well-designed mental healthcare environments, and report on some of the key topics discussed at this first ever National Dementia Design Conference.