Designing for Dementia
Amtico has partnered with the Dementia Service Development Centre (DSDC) to review and accredit our flooring collections to help people with (or caring for those with) dementia to live well. From colours, grains, and contrast to wider considerations like sound, mobility, and interactions with others, our floor designs enable care and clarity - without compromising on style.
Helping people with Dementia
to live well
People living with Dementia are at higher risk of falling, hurting themselves, or becoming poorly. Our DSDC-accredited LVT flooring collections are designed to reduce the risk of falls with non-slip features, including:
Slip resistant designs, to help minimise trips and falls.
BS EN 13845 Enhanced Slip Standard.
Designs that are less slippery even when wet or being cleaned.
What is Dementia & why design for it?
Dementia is an umbrella term for a series of symptoms that get worse over time. These symptoms are caused by diseases that damage nerve cells in the brain. Many associate dementia with memory loss, but people living with it can also experience confusion, trouble communicating, and difficulty navigating their environment.
Designing for Dementia is a recognised non-pharmacological way of helping those living with dementia make sense of the world around them. Our dementia flooring is designed to evoke a feeling of familiarity and comfort while keeping dementia patients safe. Our flooring collections focus on the following areas like:
Seeing
Binocular and monocular-like narrowing fields of vision and reduced depth-perception can really blur the lines between here, near, and far away.
Hearing
Trouble filtering out background noise combined with general age-related deterioration in hearing can make communication very difficult.
Doing
Getting dressed, washing, eating, or simply moving about can be tricky, and people living with dementia are at greater risk of hurting themselves.
Thinking
Decision-making, memory, language, behaviour, emotion, reasoning, and interaction with others can be affected in challenging ways.
A room with a different view
It can be hard to imagine the world through the eyes of somebody living with dementia. Use the buttons to compare two perspectives: one of somebody with normal vision, and one (in black and white) of somebody living with dementia.
You’ll soon notice the stark difference in colour, contrast, and materials. This is just a tiny glimpse into the importance of creating safe, considered environments, helping those with dementia make sense of the spaces around them.
Vision of someone living with dementia
Vision without dementia
Designs accredited by the DSDC must:
Look familiar and non-institutional
Preserve dignity and sustain abilities
Offer a safe, unthreatening world
Support hearing and seeing well
Be designed for the individual
Support a good night’s sleep and maintain circadian rhythm
Support the caregiver
Support text-based communication
Offer optimal colour and contrast
Support one-to-one engagement
Explore our DSDC-accredited flooring collections
Amtico has been working with the DSDC to ensure our flooring contributes to Dementia-inclusive spaces, without compromising on style and aesthetics. We’re proud that our Signature, Form, and Spacia collections (including 36+ options) have been accredited under the DSDC’s Production Accreditation Principles, making them ideal options for hospitals, daycare centres, rehabilitation clinics, residential care homes, and, importantly, people’s own homes too.
Our Signature collection offers a variety of colours with a good range of LRVs at the mid-range of the LRV scale.
Amtico Signature Lookbook
Form showcases a collection inspired by nature, with organic textures and colourways perfect for both modern and traditional spaces.
Amtico Form Lookbook
Simple, stylish, and charming, Spacia brings a sense of timeless quality without complication.
Amtico Spacia Lookbook
*Dementia-friendly design requires careful consideration of the whole environment where the product is used.
