Research on Home Environment Design to Improve the Autonomy of Elderly People with Dementia

Jijuan Zhang, Yandan Yu, Lincai Hu, Feifei Song, Weiming Wu and Zhongfeng Zhang ()
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Jijuan Zhang: College of Furnishings and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Yandan Yu: College of Furnishings and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Lincai Hu: College of Furnishings and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Feifei Song: Hunan Institute of Product Quality Inspection, Changsha 410004, China
Weiming Wu: College of Furnishings and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China
Zhongfeng Zhang: College of Furnishings and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Under the trend of increasing global aging, this study is based on the theory of mental model to conduct a study on the design of living environments for demented elderly, which is dedicated to meeting the special needs of this special group of demented elderly, improving their quality of life and self-care ability, and reducing the dependence on social medical and nursing resources to achieve the goal of social sustainability. The field research method was used to observe and record the behavior of elderly people with dementia in their homes, which included 20 elderly people aged 60–94 years with mild dementia; the ratio of male to female is 1:1. The Kawakita Jiro (KJ) method is used to extract a mental model of elderly people with dementia, obtain their subjective needs for the home environment, and propose related design principles. The research indicates that the mental space of elderly people with dementia regarding the home environment is mainly composed of three parts: information perception, environmental cognition, and environmental shaping. Based on this mental model, design principles of the home environment of elderly people with dementia are designed, aiming to improve their living experience via environmental information perception design, the enhancement of environmental cognition, and the reduction in the difficulty of shaping the environment.

Keywords: autonomy; design principle; elderly people with dementia; healthy aging; home environment design; mental model; sustainable living space (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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