Lounge Layout to Facilitate Communication and Engagement in People with Dementia

The design of care settings for people with dementia is often guided by expert opinion rather than empirical data. We evaluated the effect of arranging lounge furniture in different configurations on communication, engagement with activities, and indices of happiness in people with dementia. We found that the common configuration of chairs placed around the outside of the room resulted in the least of all 3 behaviors. Communication occurred most when the furniture was arranged in groups, and engagement occurred most when the furniture layout maximized the salience of available activities.