Design for enabling movement behavior of seniors with dementia: design (process) requirements based upon person-centered behavioral mapping technique

This research aims to provide design (process) requirements based upon insights into the rela-tionship between the spatial layout and the daily movement behavior of seniors with dementia in the common living room of a nursing home. Currently, 28% of seniors with dementia in the Netherlands live in a nursing home and spend most of their time in the common living room. To design a user-centered living room, knowledge about the behavior during the day of this special target group is necessary. A spatial analysis combined with fly-on-the-wall observation and per-son-centered behavioral mapping has been performed in two living rooms with a varying num-ber of residents in one care organization in the Netherlands. The behavioral (movement) pat-terns of twenty-one residents with severe dementia (n=21) have been observed. Although the same features were present in the living rooms, the rooms were shaped differently. Some places in the living room were unused during the observation, while other spaces were used frequently. Results show that the same types of movements (e.g. none, direct, or wandering) occurred in both living rooms during similar periods. This study detected three diverse move-ment behaviors, predominantly bound to time. As design (process) requirements for the living room, behavioral patterns (e.g., scheduled activities) during the day and night should be con-sidered. Furthermore, the expected dominant walking patterns (based upon the entrances and zoning areas of the living room) should be determined during the design process. These barri-er-free paths should enable different means of movement (e.g., wheelchair, walker).