Dementia Friendly Environment Fund – Companies reach second stage

Three projects focused on creating dementia friendly environments have reached the second stage of the application process for a share of the Department of Health’s £50 million fund to identify ways to improve living conditions for people with Dementia.

The three organisations to proceed to this next round are:

• The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust project, who are looking to create dementia friendly wards in 4 of their hospitals
• Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust project, who are focused on improving the caring environment and providing cohesion between wards
• Reading Borough Council project, who applied to create a dementia friendly garden in one of their care homes

The £50 million fund, which was announced in October 2012 by Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt is aimed at creating more friendly environments which can help to reduce anxiety and distress in people with dementia.

The importance of good environmental design has been backed up by recent research by The Kings Fund, who found that when you create the right environment you can see a reduction in slips, trips and falls by up to 70%, a decrease in violence and aggression by 60% and a lower occurrence of incontinence by up to 50%.