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The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is to support the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Friends’ initiative.
The move came amid concerns that 93% of homes lack basic accessibility features, despite 850,000 people in the UK living with dementia, a number that is expected to rise to 1 million by 2021.
Through the partnership, CIOB members will gain access to resources that help them understand how dementia affects people’s lives, and as a result what considerations can be put in place within the built environment to have a positive impact on those with such conditions.
CIOB chief executive Caroline Gumble said: “I am very pleased that the CIOB is partnering with the Alzheimer’s Society. The construction industry plays a vital role in creating, developing and maintaining the built environment for everyone, including those with long-term health conditions. We know that CIOB members are already doing a lot of great work in this area and we want to support the rest of the construction community in improving provision for all members of society and make a lasting, positive impact.”
The CIOB Academy currently provides a course, Dementia Awareness, to understand more about dementia, the small actions you can take to support customers and colleagues affected by dementia, identify the ways the built environment can cause challenges for people with dementia, and take steps to make the built environment more dementia friendly.
Other previous work by the CIOB on how the industry can work towards benefiting dementia can be found here:
https://www.ciob.org/blog/designing-and-building-dementia
https://www.ciob.org/blog/supporting-your-colleagues-affected-dementia
