We are again planning the layout of our next Hovi Club. The next Senior Day Care centre will be located in Vietnam. The building is already in place, and the site for the senior and dementia dau care is looking really good. We are really excited!
Now that we have been designing and using various Hovi Club premises, we looking deeper into ways of designing it as accessible as possible for our clientele. We have even documented all the design practices into Hovi Care Interior Design -document, consisting of all the needed elements for a successful setup of a elderly day care center. On the surface, it means access with a wheelchair, but accessibility can be a lot more: many of our senior care clients are suffering from dementia or have other issues with memory. So, we need to design it memory-friendly too. There are inevitable benefits for age-friendly design as it enforces the impact of our activities.
Memory-friendly and age-friendly Hovi Club premises are easily accessible and easy to perceive. The design is really important for especially people with dementia, mild cognitive impairment, late-stage dementia, Alzheimer’s or Parkinsons’. We recognise that our clients have changes in their capacity to function due to ageing.
Senses, balance and other functional skills are weakening as we age. Our goal is that Hovi Clubs provide positive experiences, encourages communality, inspires interest to be active and try new things and maintains social relationships. Our activities gain a better impact when our environment supports our day-care functions.
Memory-friendly design includes things like careful use of colours, different enticing surfaces, interior lighting, clear and visible signs, use of the elements of nature, considerations on using walking aids, places to rest when needed and technology solutions meant specifically for elderly or people with dementia. Age-friendly design for the elderly does not necessarily cost a lot more; it just needs attention in the development phase.
In our opinion, you cannot go wrong when designing environments and houses and using universal design and social inclusion. In a best-case scenario, it allows elderly the possibility age-in-place and makes ageing a more positive and increases general understanding of what does it mean to live with a memory disorder and how to support people with dementia. We are happy to tell you more about the details we take into consideration when designing our Hovi Clubs.
Read also our other articles on the Memory Friendly Design practices:
