Designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing: co-production for impact and scale (DesHCA)

The aim of the research is to identify innovative, sustainable and scalable designs of living environments for people ageing with cognitive change. The designs will support social citizenship through promoting community engagement, mutual support and respect, using an ecological approach that considers the whole person in their built, social and natural environment. The project will develop, using participatory methods, co-production and stakeholder engagement, a framework identifying key design principles for use by all stakeholders, including older people themselves, builders and developers, policy and practice professionals, to deliver design innovations. Research questions will be: •What environmental design principles can enable people ageing with cognitive change to live the lives they wish, at home, in care facilities, in communities and public spaces? •What are the outcomes of improved environmental design? •What are the social and economic costs and benefits of improved design? The proposal draws on work completed in the UK-Japan network, and will include an international academic partner whose role is to interrogate the work as it proceeds, and to ensure it maintains an innovative approach. (There may be parallel work going on in Japan, and this would bring added value). The focus on cognitive change is to allow an inclusive approach. Many of the people in the project will have a diagnosis of dementia, but there are still many people who have not received a diagnosis, who are nevertheless experiencing cognitive changes.