A Study of Architectural Barriers and the Potential Role of Assistive Technologies in Long-term Healthcare Centres for People with Alzheimer’s

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) changes a person's relationship with space. While research exists on how an interactive therapeutic environment can enhance the quality of life for people with Alzheimer's disease (PWAD), PWADs as end-users are not sufficiently studied. This paper examines (1) the daily activities that PWADs need to perform to understand potential architectural barriers and (2) assistive technology (AT) used in PWAD rooms at long-term healthcare centers. A questionnaire (n = 25) and interviews (n = 5) with five professional experts in daily contact with PWADs were conducted for this study, together with an observation of one resident in his room at a selected healthcare center in Vienna, Austria. Four interrelated aspects emerged from the analysis: (1) orientation of PWADs in space, (2) occupational therapy, (3) assistive technology, and (4) potential architectural barriers. PWADs generally prefer therapeutic environments that let them control their lives. Occupational therapy enhances the ability of PWADs to remember how to perform daily activities. AT can serve as a tool in interactive indoor therapeutic environments and occupational therapy. The results of this study show that healthcare designers should consider PWADs as end-users when designing interactive therapeutic environments, especially by employing user experience design concepts.

Assessing Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Environment Digitally through a People with Alzheimer’s’ Disease Perspective: A Computation-Based Approach Framework

“…In other words, the person-environment relationship is damaged, and the environment becomes a key determinant of behavior [31,34,35]. Moreover, the insight gained in the study [22] led the researcher to investigate alternative sophisticated techniques based on computational design technology for collecting continuous quantitative data about the movements of PWAD. Based on the insights gained in [15,22,[31][32][33][34][35][36] studies, the proposed framework includes five main stages, which are: (1) digitalizing old building architecture plans using BIM; (2) selecting IoT sensors-based monitoring;…”

“…Based on the insights gained in the exploratory research [22], and since epidemics prevented continual and extensive shadow observations, there was a need to develop a framework based on computational design to help in collecting and analyzing quantitative data and support decision-making processes. The exploratory research raised three main issues: (1) The necessity of utilizing BIM in facility management at the post-construction stage.…”

“…Moreover, each component can be represented in both positive and negative terms [29]. A scoping review based on empirical studies [31], an exploratory research with a sequential design based on experience [22], and formal knowledge based on previous studies' results [15,[32][33][34][35][36] were used to develop the assessment technique criteria of the proposed framework based on the spatial constraints' main factors. In user experience design concepts (UX), the essential trigger for effective decision-making is the in-depth knowledge of users.…”

“…Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for decision support tools in Alzheimer's care to help researchers continue collecting and analyzing their research data; the architects in builtenvironment decision-making processes; and neurologists to follow up the health statuses of PWAD. The COVID-19 pandemic was the most significant difficulty encountered during the research study [22] that occurred at one of the long-term healthcare centers in Vienna, Austria. This problem has prevented the researcher from carrying out more shadow observations for PWAD in their room at the long-term healthcare center due to COVID-19 restrictions.…”