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DEMENTIA AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 

 

The Casa Hogar Santa Rosa de Lima is the only senior living house in Iquitos, Peru (population 0.5 million). It houses 18 abandoned seniors living with dementia who would otherwise face homelessness, under the care of 11 nurses and other staff. Managed by local parish Parroquia San Martín de Porres, the existing house was overcrowded and lacked accessibility, functional spaces for workers and other qualities that are essential to quality dementia care such as therapeutic interior and green spaces, natural lighting and ventilation, and wayfinding features. These environmental limitations are linked to injuries, reduced independence, exacerbation of symptoms, and lower quality of life amongst residents and on-site workers. The Dementia and the Built Environment project engaged evidence-based and participatory design strategies to renovate and increase the capacity of the Casa Hogar. The project team also measured the impact of the renovation on residents and workers to help inform design guidelines for future facilities in the Urban Amazonian context. 

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PARTNERS

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Traction; Parroquia San Martín de Porres; NIH National Institute on Aging; NIH Fogarty International; Centro de Investigaciones Tecnologicas, Biomedicas y Medioambientales (CITBM); University of Washington

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