Carleton hosted a workshop on built environments and dementia from June 15-16. The event was co-hosted with Renate Ysseldyk and Paul Villeneuve from the Institute of Health: Science, Technology, and Policy in the department of health science.
The purpose of the meeting was to “bring together a group of environmental health and social scientists, as well as end-users of knowledge from across Canada,” Villeneuve said. It was also to identify areas of research about the disease that could have a tangible impact on the health of Canadians, he said.
Funding was provided through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
The theme of the two day meeting was “What is known, and where do we go from here?”
Attendees learned about recent research on design and dementia in long-term care settings and how different aspects, such as building layout, patient-caregiver ratio, and social density, can impact the care of people with dementia.
Dementia is a chronic disease with little known about its cause or prevention. The Alzheimer Society said that in 2008, there were 480,618 cases of dementia in Canada and the economic cost is anticipated to jump from $15 billion in 2008 to $152.5 billion by 2038.
Tracy Luciani, knowledge broker at the Bruyère Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care, presented on the role of arts in dementia within long-term care residences. To tackle the issue of patients wandering, Luciani is considering various creative designs to camouflage the doors and doorknobs.
Other presentations focused on research tools. The Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA), a new data platform on Canada’s aging population, was presented by Lauren Griffith. The study collects information on past environmental exposures, family history, changes in cognitive function, and how people adapt to changes associated with aging. Its data may help establish relationships between environmental exposure and dementia, including the types of built environments that facilitate better physical and mental health, Griffith said.
The CLSA database will also benefit students, as it will be free to access for graduate students writing theses, Griffith said.
At the end of the two-day meeting, participants were brought to a roundtable discussion to brainstorm on research gaps and solutions. There was a clear consensus on the importance of engaging patients living with dementia in future research. Many participants left with new energy and new research ideas.
