Best Practices from Eight European Dementia-Friendly Study Cases of Innovation

Abstract

The concept of dementia-friendly cities and communities has achieved great dissemination in the international context since 2016. Although it is usually related with community networks and services, evidence and guidelines show the close relationship between the built environment design, health promotion, and the preservation of relationships with the local surroundings. Recent publications emphasize best practices in urban areas and care management. However, this is a very complex reality in each country depending on the sociosanitary services, the demographic, and geographic structure and many other different aspects including cultural ones. Moreover, design should also consider not only basic aspects such as habitability or universal accessibility, but also heritage, identity, and the feeling of normalized living. Knowledge about international experiences and innovative approaches is, as yet, an object of study as demographic ageing is still challenging all the welfare systems, especially in Europe. This study presents eight descriptive study cases in three different European countries—the United Kingdom, Belgium, and The Netherlands—to analyze the relationship between dementia-friendly initiatives and their intersection with design, urban planning and the provision of care. The results can provide strategic lines for development and innovation towards dementia-friendly societies and cities achieving SDG numbers 3 and 11 simultaneously.