BU Research Blog

Following our first successful meeting earlier this year, the ADRC ‘Ageing and Dementia Friendly Design Advisory Board’ met for the second time in June 2017. The Advisory Board brings together internal staff and external members such as architects, designers and care home managers and developers (see previous article for a full list of membership*). The purpose of the Advisory Board is to exchange knowledge between academics and external stakeholder, to discuss findings from our research into the effects of typical and atypical ageing on wayfinding and navigation and – importantly – to translate research findings into practice-relevant design guidelines for the built environment that minimises spatial disorientation in later life.

In this meeting Prof Jan Wiener provided Advisory Board members with an overview of the relevant research findings and suggested new, improved design guidelines focusing on the use of landmarks to support orientation. The group discussed these findings and provided feedback about how these guidelines might be implemented, published and disseminated in the future. ADRC will continue discussions with the Advisory Board when they meet next in September 2017.