Hi Jim

sorry for not replying sooner to your recent request for assistance, 
but go tied up with the Christmas break, etc. Anyway now back on 
line Y2K permitting ;-) and down to business.

You are correct that there is a distinct lack of useful material for 
accessibility/design issues regarding cognitive disabilities. I hope 
this will be addressed and I recently attended a conference at 
Reading University which one of the speakers talked about a 
project for those with dementia. I know your project is different but 
thought that some of what was said and the material that they 
provided might prove useful to you.

The project is/was part of the Glasgow City of Architecture and 
Design 1999. The project elements are to develop a strategic brief 
for architect or designer to enable them to engage with people with 
dementia as well as their carers and families to inform a design; to 
develop an audit tool to measure how well a home or centre fits the 
needs of a person with dementia; provision of an advisory service; a 
conference on dementia design; a series of customisation projects; 
concept designs for rural, urban and suburban locations. Sally 
Stewart the speaker concentrated on the projects and concept 
designs, but said the other areas were due out soon. You could try 
to get in touch [log in to unmask] I am sure she may have some 
helpful advice.

from their handouts they suggest a dementia friendly environment 
is one that aims to be clear and well structured; be stable and 
familiar; serve as a cue to behaviour; serve as a clue to memory; 
serve as a cue to reality.

Another of their handouts discusses cues and recommends 
removing unnecessary cues, providing positive cues and tools for 
helping to remember - using labels and notices, legible clock and 
calender, using pictures of objects to locate things, good lighting 
and views to remind people of the time of day.

Going back to your last e-mail on this subject Jim you listed things 
that you were considering. The chalkboard idea sounds nice and 
easy to use but will he me the one writing the "to do" list on the 
board and will he be able to remember why he put them on the 
board in the first place when he sees them again? People can also 
become "controlled" by their lists so that if it is not on the list they 
do not do it. Would some sort of board which had images of certain 
commonly repeated tasks which could be placed on pegs, or 
covered by sliding covers be any good?

i really liked the idea of a day of the week shelf - could do with one 
of those myself. Normally I just stack things up in near the front 
door so that I have to get around them to get out!

The infra-red taps sounds good since I agree that the spring-loaded 
ones are a complete pain. Not sure how expensive that sort of 
system works out and whether they are integral to the basin unit or 
can be fitted separately.

the colour coding idea can work well but it depends on the level of 
"filing" required I think the concept of trying to make something 
which is open shelf but also hidden is going to lead to too many 
problems. The ideas you suggest sound quite complicated and a 
low tech solution would be best. Anyway if it is his home he should 
have it how it best suits him, the visitors I am sure would 
appreciate that and if not then they should try harder. Besides if 
the system works well they may want to copy it for themselves to 
save themselves searching for lost items!

The seduction of the computer solution is appealing but again I 
would worry about the robustness of the high-tech solution to 
provide 24 hour reliable service. However, perhaps with that type of 
solution it may be possible to talk to the suppliers and convince 
them to trial some items, or to get the research community to be 
involved to help defray some of the costs, maintenance and 
troubleshooting.

the last suggestion (if i have made any - I am not sure how much 
help I have really been here) is i did meet up at another event with 
someone else who was struggling to find useful info on cognitive 
impairment design issues. I failed to provide her with the info I 
promised her (but will send her some stuff soon - too busy etc). 
Her organisation was ADA Inc from Bingley UK She was Jo Verrent 
on [log in to unmask]

finally another source of information we can tap into is a guy called 
John Zeisel in the USA who wrote "Inquiry by Design" and runs a 
center for people with Alzheimers.

hope something in all this helps

marcus


The mind is like a parachute; it works better when it's open.


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