37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 1058HOUSING REHABILITATION TO IMPROVE THE QUALITYOF LIFE FOR PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE:ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS IN SUPPORT OF FAMILYMEMBERS.M. Dalprà, M. Chiogna, A. FrattariDepartment of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUniversity of Trento, Italye-mail: michela.dalpra@unitn.it , michela.chiogna@ing.unitn.it , antonio.frattari@unitn.itKey words: home environment, Alzheimer’s Disease, rehabilitation, perceptive and physical barriersAbstractThe home environment, if designed properly in order to achieve an high standard of safety forindividual affected by cognitive diseases, can be therapeutic. The space becomes prosthetic toincrease as long as possible their autonomy, to reduce stress and to promote well-being. Inparticular, for persons affected by Alzheimer’s Disease, the environment where they live is avaluable therapeutic resource for the maintenance of remaining autonomy in the everyday lifeactions, the management of behavioural disturbances and the improvement of the quality oflife.In this work we present the results of a research project carried out at the Laboratory ofBuilding Design of the University of Trento (Italy) in which we planned and realized a tool toadapt the home environment to specific needs of people with Alzheimer's Disease.This tool, based on housing rehabilitation as a primary form of support, is an aid to familymembers of Alzheimer’s patients. It is the result of an active collaboration with hospitals,nursing homes, Alzheimer day-care centres and family members.Firstly, the tool allows detecting systematically the perceptive and physical barriers in thehousing using an appropriate checklist for motor, sensory and cognitive impairments relatedto Alzheimer's Disease. Applying this checklist, we can highlight the environmentalcriticalities of the home. We can then identify measures to remove them or to improve thequality of the spaces. Subsequently, the tool provides information on how we can remove thedetected obstacles through a collection of analytical and proposal sheets closely related to thestructure of the checklist.The paper describes in detail the process of elaboration and verification of this tool.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 370