Environment
Dialogue in Best Practice: "There's No Place Like Home"
Building on the intense interest in the Milwaukee area on creating elder-friendly environments, the Center hosted this Dialogue in Best Practice in February 2008. The panel featured Rob Frediani (The Institute for Collaborative Health Interventions), Beth Meyer Arnold (Luther Manor Adult Day Services), Jerry Weisman (UWM's School of Architecture and Urban Planning), Charlotte John-Gomez (Layton Blvd West Neighbor, Inc.), and Linnea Katz-Petted (Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee). CAC director Anne Basting moderated. A white paper will be available soon.
Design Charrette
In February, 2007, the Center on Age & Community, along with UWM's School of Architecture and Urban Planning (SARUP), and other partners, co-hosted an event called Aging in Community. The event was an architectural competition--commonly known among architects as a design "charrette"--to develop creative housing solutions for seniors. Over the course of several days, eight architectural teams worked intensively on their designs in an open area at the SARUP. The process was open to the public, so visitors could come to UWM and actually "look over the shoulders" of the teams as they worked. The weekend activities culminated in a public review and discussion where the architectural teams presented their work and discussed their creative design solutions. Notably, the competition opened with a lecture by Dr. William Thomas, geriatrician and renowned creator of the "Eden Alternative."
Download the Design Charrette white paper below.
Design Lexicon
Gerald Weisman, Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at UWM's School of Architecture and Urban Planning, in partnership with the late Lawton Powell, conceived of and created a unique tool to enhance housing opportunities for seniors with memory loss. The "Design Lexicon" is a website to guide architects and caregivers in the planning and design of environments for dementia care. There is no currently available resource which synthesizes the diverse body of knowledge on planning environments for dementia care in this way; settings for dementia care are often designed on the basis of incomplete evidence and often untested assertions. To meet this need, the Design Lexicon provides a "lexicon" of design-related resources that is comprehensive, up-to-date, and easily searchable. Information is weighted for confidence (i.e., research-based; reflective of expert opinion; or anecdotal without empirical evidence). More than 1400 discrete records of information are being recorded into the website database.
Designing the United Community Center's Adult Day Center
United Community Center (UCC) is a human services center for older adults, teens, and families, mainly serving Milwaukee's Hispanic community. UCC has an adult day care center aimed at improving the quality of life of older adults. Dr. Gerald Weisman, with assistance from UWM graduate students, UCC staff, and architect John Yost, re-designed the environment of the day center to reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness in visitors by promoting social interaction and recreation. The center is organized into 3 interconnected "houses," which face onto a central "plaza." Also, the design specifically incorporated Southwestern/Hispanic motifs to provide a sense of cultural familiarity. The grand opening of the day center was held March 30, 2007.
Dr. Weisman, along with CAC Post-Doctoral Fellow Brad Fulton, will also conduct a research study in which he will test whether the design facilitates engagement and social contact among visitors. They will use a technique known as "behavior mapping" to study the process by which people adapt to their new surroundings.
Oneida Partnership
CAC is coordinating a consulting team of scholars and community partners to work with the Oneida Nation as they plan a visionary new building project that aims for true "aging in community". The CAC consultants include Anne Basting, Gerald Weisman, Beth Meyer-Arnold, Sarah Morgan, Stephanie Sue Stein, Chris Kovach, Brad Fulton, and Addie Johnson. We have gathered many times, beginning in 2006, working on issues of person-centered care, green design, aging in community, and incorporating Oneida values. Together, the CAC and Oneida teams are using the latest research about evidence based, therapeutic design in planning the structure. Importantly, we are implementing design elements that emerge from the specific cultural background of the Oneida people. CAC is also working with the Oneida Nation to identify potential funding sources to support the design and building process, the design and implementation of new operations in the building, and the evaluation of the new facility.
