Dementia-friendly home designs go live

Based at the University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC), the guide allows visitors to “walk round” virtual demonstration rooms, complete with design features such as clocks that have symbols for night or day and shower controls that are easy to use.

The guide, created by Edinburgh architects firm Burnett Pollock Associates, will allow people worldwide to access the information and share good design in dementia care.

Ms Magnusson also spoke movingly about the struggle she has had caring for her mother, who has dementia.

“Dementia, in all its various forms, is a wicked disease. The journey my sisters and I have been on with our beloved mother these last eight years or so has been more eye-opening and emotionally shattering than we could have believed possible.

“This home design facility will help make the lives of sufferers easier and the burden of carers lighter. Often quite small things can make a huge difference to people’s ability to negotiate life independently for longer – such as using contrasting colours in a room or increasing the amount of light.”