Eating, Design & Dementia
Working with Bupa and the Helen Hamlyn Centre to improve the quality of dining for older people with dementia in care.
The ability to eat and drink with dignity and independence is often taken for granted, yet is a key indicator of quality of life for care home residents. This project aims to improve this experience by designing tools to help maintain eating skills for longer and by creating architectural features such as light fittings which compensate for disabilities common to ageing.
Eating, Design & Dementia Symposium Presentation 2009 from gregor timlin on Vimeo.
Need for design
Around 700,000 people in the UK have dementia, over a third of which live in care homes. Eating and drinking within this care environment can raise complex issues which can become even more critical when a resident is bed-bound or affected by dementia.
To date there has been little design work to address the care home as a distinct social group. Products designed for care homes are often appropriated from other sectors, making them ill-fitting to the care home setting.
To improve design in the care home environment, it was important to understand it from both a care worker and resident perspective.
An immersive research method was adopted, recognising the issues raised when researching with residents affected by dementia. Numerous care homes were visited, where residents were interviewed and observed. Bupa care staff training was attended to understand the care workers’ perspective, and their experiences were thoroughly explored in further interviews.
Best practice and emerging theories in dementia care were researched in order to establish which elements of the designed environment could be made to reinforce good practice. Existing care products were also audited to discover what was accepted or rejected in the care environment.
The project focused on two key areas where design could play an effective role: tableware, and the table setting itself.
Tableware
The design solutions consolidated into three distinct groups of low, medium and high assistance.
The low assistance cup and plate compensate for poor vision, using colour to ensure the food contrasts with the plate, and the plate edge is visible against the table. Handles and plate edges have also been designed to accommodate for those with osteoarthritis.
The medium assistance, high-lipped plate helps people with limited dexterity to keep food on the plate, and a removable microwavable outer layer keeps food warm for longer. The cup replaces stigmatising double handled cups by removing the handles altogether and replacing them with a layer of neoprene.
The high assistance plate is shaped for careworkers to hold close to residents who can no longer feed themselves. This ensures they can see and smell what they are eating, promoting an experience which is about them and not the care task. The cup opens and closes easily in the hand avoiding the spillage of hot liquids.
The Table Setting
This table, light and cloth work together to promote a better eating experience for residents. The table is designed to accommodate wheelchairs so that all residents can get close enough to their food to eat. The light can be adjusted to comensate for different visual acuities, some residents needing as much as three times as much light to see properly. The table cloth can be placed and removed easily, encouraging carers to reset the table before each meal. This encourages anticipation and appetite for residents with memory dificulties.
By making many small changes the quality of dining can be improved, affording people with dementia the dignity and respect they deserve.
