At StudioLR, We’ve been designing wayfinding signage to help people living with dementia live more independently.
[7 Minute Read]
With features such as dementia-friendly signs, handrails and benches, Kings Park in Stirling recently launched as Scotland’s first dementia-friendly park. Led by National walking charity, Paths for All, we were asked to design signs which would help people living with dementia navigate the park more easily on their own.
“This project was an important step for us in working towards our aim of driving improvements in the quality of life, well-being, empowerment and inclusion of people living with dementia in Scotland.”
– Dr Corinne Greasley Adams, development officer for Paths for All
Paths for All came to us after hearing about our successful initiative to design signs that will help people with dementia find their way around care homes.
Aligning with our company belief that great design improves people’s everyday lives, we wanted to make a difference to people living with dementia through empowering signage design.
Working with our academic partners (Edinburgh University and Stirling University) we challenged the signage typically used in care environments. Using an academic approach gave us confidence that our assessment was accurate. And our recommendations would have the intended level of positive impact.
Easy wayfinding would improve the wellbeing of people with dementia (potentially extending their life) and also reduce the strain and cost on their families and on societal care resources.
We realised our findings could easily be transferred to other public spaces, like Kings Park, providing an even greater opportunity for extended independent living.
Read more about the dementia-friendly Kings Park project in the Scotsman article here.
