Healthy Aging Public Lecture Series | June 27

Dementia-friendly communities (DFCs) aim to foster a supportive, inclusive and empowering environment that promotes equal rights and resources for people living with dementia and their care partners. Central to DFCs is promoting access and navigation of outdoor spaces and destinations in the neighbourhood. The “Dementia-inclusive Spaces for Community Access, Participation, and Engagement (DemSCAPE)” study aims to identify spatial and temporal patterns in activities undertaken outside home by people living with dementia, and ways in which the neighbourhood built environment affects their outdoor mobility and social participation. We engaged with 32 participants living with mild to moderate dementia or mild cognitive impairment in Metro Vancouver, and Prince George, British Columbia. Findings shed light on how people living with dementia understand and navigate the neighbourhood environment, and features that prompt recall of routes, places, and events, and support orientation and wayfinding. The study offers planners and designers awareness and insights into the lived experience of navigating the neighbourhood environment with the condition of dementia and guidance on adopting a dementia-friendly and inclusive approach in policy and practice.