The increase of the elderly population (17.4% of the total population over 65 years old in Europe in 2009, and 20.3% in 2019) is related to the progressive growth of age-related diseases. Patients with cognitive impairment often find themselves leaving their homes to move into nursing homes; in fact, 50% of the residents in these facilities suffer from dementia, and 40% in severe form. Today, it’s renown that the built environment has a very strong impact on people with dementia’s health, due to the deterioration of the patient's psychophysical functions resulting from the progression of the disease, like problems in orientation. This relationship was stressed during the pandemic, as patients with dementia were forced to social distancing and segregation within facilities where the spread of the virus was exponential. Patients with dementia who lived in nursing facilities were among the greatest victims of the pandemic because of their frail condition (average 2.5 times more than pre-pandemic period). The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the built environment and patients with dementia during the covid-19 pandemic, in order to identify the most critical environmental characteristics. A systematic literature review has been run, combining selected keywords through Boolean operators. 86 articles were found among scientific literature. After full text analysis, 8 articles were selected. From the analysis, five main factors emerged as crucial for safety and well-being of people with dementia that live in facilities: facility design, ward size, indoor air quality, use of technology, and social aspects. The design strategies of these categories will be detailed below. These findings show the importance of rethinking spaces for patients with dementia focusing on resilience, flexibility and security of facilities, ensuring the well-being and engaging patients in physical, social and occupational activities that are necessary to slow down psychophysical decline.

Relationship between built environment and dementia during covid-19 pandemic

S. Mangili;A. Morganti;S. Capolongo
2021-01-01

Abstract

The increase of the elderly population (17.4% of the total population over 65 years old in Europe in 2009, and 20.3% in 2019) is related to the progressive growth of age-related diseases. Patients with cognitive impairment often find themselves leaving their homes to move into nursing homes; in fact, 50% of the residents in these facilities suffer from dementia, and 40% in severe form. Today, it’s renown that the built environment has a very strong impact on people with dementia’s health, due to the deterioration of the patient's psychophysical functions resulting from the progression of the disease, like problems in orientation. This relationship was stressed during the pandemic, as patients with dementia were forced to social distancing and segregation within facilities where the spread of the virus was exponential. Patients with dementia who lived in nursing facilities were among the greatest victims of the pandemic because of their frail condition (average 2.5 times more than pre-pandemic period). The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between the built environment and patients with dementia during the covid-19 pandemic, in order to identify the most critical environmental characteristics. A systematic literature review has been run, combining selected keywords through Boolean operators. 86 articles were found among scientific literature. After full text analysis, 8 articles were selected. From the analysis, five main factors emerged as crucial for safety and well-being of people with dementia that live in facilities: facility design, ward size, indoor air quality, use of technology, and social aspects. The design strategies of these categories will be detailed below. These findings show the importance of rethinking spaces for patients with dementia focusing on resilience, flexibility and security of facilities, ensuring the well-being and engaging patients in physical, social and occupational activities that are necessary to slow down psychophysical decline.
2021
Dementia, COVID-19, Built Environment
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1191330
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