Environment, Neuroscience, and Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

For 20 years environment-behavior researchers have developed guidelines to meet the needs of people living with Alzheimer's in assisted living residences. Designers seem to have paid attention to these directives and incorporated the information into evidence-based environments. What appears to have been overlooked is the general purpose of such environments—to create a unified, socially supportive, home-like setting in which hands-on care and treatment can be delivered. When this is achieved, a new type of Alzheimer's treatment emerges—coordinated nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic treatment. The future of this movement lies in understanding the neuroscience implications of design and using these to plan truly supportive environments. This article describes these points with examples drawn from both research and practice.