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Dementia Friendly Buildings—Approach on Architectures
Mehrdad Ghamari, Suvish, Agaah Ashrafi Dehkordi, Chan Hwang See, Ashkan Sami, Hongnian Yu, Senthilarasu Sundaram. Buildings, 2025-01-26
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Dementia’s escalating incidence, coupled with its economic burden, highlights the need for architectural designs and forms that benefit people living with dementia. This research explores strategies and design principles that focus on establishing supportive spaces for the prolonged autonomy, well-being, and safety of dementia patients. Contemporary research emphasizes the implementation of effective navigational techniques, via visual cues, familiar landmarks, and simplified layouts. For greater navigational signage, the intentional use of contrasting colors, textures, and lighting are recommended to demarcate functional areas within a structure. Incorporating familiar objects in personalized areas enhances treatment outcomes, e.g., reminiscence therapy leverages familiar objects, environmental cues, scents, sounds, and tactile features to trigger and retain memory. Integrating safety precautions such as slip-resistant flooring, handrails, and accessible bathrooms helps mitigate falls for the cognitively impaired. From a therapeutic perspective, this study draws attention towards incorporating gardens and outdoor spaces, which offers sensory stimulation, encourages physical activity, and fosters social engagement. Additionally, the integration of scents, sounds, and tactile features enriches the sensory experience for individuals with dementia. Through comprehensive consideration of design elements, this research highlights how intentionally crafted, dementia-friendly environments can convert spaces into empowering therapeutic settings tailored to address the unique need of this vulnerable group. This architectural approach acts as a valuable complement to the medical and therapeutic interventions in the treatment and care of people living with dementia and their families.
Key findings
- Integrating safety precautions such as slip-resistant flooring, handrails, and accessible bathrooms helps mitigate falls for the cognitively impaired.
- From a therapeutic perspective, this study draws attention towards incorporating gardens and outdoor spaces, which offers sensory stimulation, encourages physical activity, and fosters social engagement.
- Additionally, the integration of scents, sounds, and tactile features enriches the sensory experience for individuals with dementia.
- Through comprehensive consideration of design elements, this research highlights how intentionally crafted, dementia-friendly environments can convert spaces into empowering therapeutic settings tailored to address the unique need of this vulnerable group.
- This architectural approach acts as a valuable complement to the medical and therapeutic interventions in the treatment and care of people living with dementia and their families.
Why it matters
This paper reviews architectural design strategies, such as visual cues, simplified layouts, safety features, and gardens, that aim to support autonomy, well-being, and safety for people with dementia. It concerns the built environment and quality of life, not treating, curing, or preventing the disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Buildings) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Buildings: journal h-index 103 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 14 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 4.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 28.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 14 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Senthilarasu Sundaram: h-index 42 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Edinburgh Napier University: institution h-index 251 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ghamari, M., Suvish, Dehkordi, A. A., See, C. H., Sami, A., Yu, H., et al. (2025). Dementia Friendly Buildings—Approach on Architectures. Buildings. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15030385
Vancouver
Ghamari M, Suvish, Dehkordi AA, See CH, Sami A, Yu H, et al. Dementia Friendly Buildings—Approach on Architectures. Buildings. 2025. doi:10.3390/buildings15030385.
BibTeX
@article{ghamari2025-64779387,
author = {Ghamari, Mehrdad and Suvish and Dehkordi, Agaah Ashrafi and See, Chan Hwang and Sami, Ashkan and Yu, Hongnian and Sundaram, Senthilarasu},
title = {{Dementia Friendly Buildings—Approach on Architectures}},
journal = {Buildings},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.3390/buildings15030385},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15030385}
}
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