Dulux Trade launches Dementia Friendly Colour Palette and Design Guide to coincide with Dementia Action Week and to help provide additional support to healthcare and design professionals.
Earlier this year Dulux Trade was awarded the Exceptional Contribution to Dementia Care Award at the Dementia, Care and Nursing Home Expo Awards. The award was given in recognition of the ground-breaking work undertaken by the brand to support the design of optimal environments for Dementia care.
The judges commended the Dulux Trade Dementia Friendly Colour Palette and Design Guide, a set of evidence-based design principles to help professionals create environments that optimise occupant wellbeing, sharing knowledge from decades of experience in designing supportive environments within the private and public healthcare field.
Dulux Trade is also part of an ongoing initiative in collaboration with partners including BRE Trust, BRE, Loughborough University and Halsall Lloyd Partnerships, to build a Dementia demonstration home. Located within the BRE Innovation Park in Watford, Chris and Sally’s House is a project to develop and test design solutions that are supportive of an ageing population staying in their own homes. The 100sqm Victorian house has been adapted to cater for different types and stages of Dementia, with Dulux Trade adding its extensive knowledge about supportive and inclusive colour and design to enable both functional and wellbeing occupant outcomes.
Synnita Cunningham at Dulux Trade, said: “Every three minutes in the UK a person is diagnosed with Dementia, while one in four patients is currently in acute hospitals living with Dementia. At Dulux Trade, we recognised that this growing global health trend required a radical change in thinking.
“For a number of years, we have been committed to supporting inclusive design within care environments, to develop beautiful and accessible spaces that improve quality of life for Dementia patients and reduce feelings of stress or anxiety.
“Dementia Action Week is an important awareness week for the healthcare sector and we hope we can highlight potential solutions to make a real difference. The launch of the Dementia Friendly Colour Palette and Design Guide is one of the ways we’re supporting and encouraging healthcare and design professionals to think differently about the development of care spaces — something that will notably improve care in the industry.”
The guide includes design tips covering way-finding, navigation and personalisation, as well as information covering the Light Reflectance Value, and the importance of colour and contrast.
For a copy of the Dementia Friendly Colour Palette and Design Guide please contact the AkzoNobel Technical Advice Centre.
