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Innovative Environmental Design in Dementia Care

Environment

Long-Term Care Facility

The Kingswood Manor Health Care Center in Kansas City, Missouri was originally designed on the philosophy of a medical model of care. The physical environment was focused more on the medical care of the residents and staff efficiency and sacrificed, for the most part, the residents' social, psychological, cultural and spiritual needs. As a result, the environment reflected many "institutional" characteristics, typical of many long-term care facilities built in the 1960's and 1970's.

Environmental Characteristics of the Facility

• Long-corridors with resident rooms on both sides
• Double occupancy resident rooms
• A large dining area
• One large activity area
• A central environmentally dominant nurses' station
• Institutional finishes such as vinyl flooring and uniform fluorescent lighting.

The pre-renovation floor plan of the Kingswood Manor Health Care Center. Long hallways with resident rooms on both sides, a large dining room, and a centrally-located institutional nurses' station characterized the institutional nature of the health center before renovation.