DEIN*ORT

The DEIN*ORT (YOUR*PLACE) research project is examining the topic of inclusion from the perspective of the group of people with dementia living in Germany, which is expected to double to around 3 million people by the year 2050. It also addresses the around 3 million caretakers who support people with dementia. Both groups experience increasing alienation from their former lives as well as exclusion from the public sphere, isolation, and marginalization. As their symptoms worsen, people with dementia suffer less from the disease itself than from the exclusion and loss of feelings of security and familiarity. They therefore need an environment and support that is adapted to them and their needs. However, it is not enough to just meet certain building construction standards or to provide a physical space for them. Instead, what is crucial for a personal environmental adaptation for people with dementia is the extent to which these spaces can also be adapted with respect to processes and tailored to each individual. The DEIN*ORT research project aims to improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their caregiving environment by designing places in public space to promote inclusion and that allow for processual changes. In additional to structural and social solutions, person-centered local technical aids are being developed and evaluated together with the target groups and are being coupled with social assistance. This is hoped to help avoiding breaks in caregiving and to reduce pressures on relatives, among other things. Digital technologies are being used in the project to enable this vulnerable group of people to participate in life and lead a more fulfilling one. Innovative, inclusion-promoting social and building construction measures and digital assistance from the fields of localizing services and mobile telephony (i.e., in the form of an app) are being taken to achieve this and are being (further) developed, tested and interlinked in an interdisciplinary manner, working in tandem with the target group and the caregiving partners active in the field.

The DEIN*ORT project is taking place within an interdisciplinary cooperation of applied sciences, architecture, and computer science (IDiAL). A cooperative doctorate program is also being pursued as part of the project.

(Author: Friederike Asche)

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• AWO-Eugen-Krautscheidthaus
• Alzheimergesellschaft Dortmund e.V.
• Kreuzviertelverein e.V.
• CP contech electronic GmbH
• die Urbanisten e.V.
• Soziales Zentrum Dortmund e.V.
• post welters + partner mbB (Architekten & Stadtplaner BDA/SRL)
• Elfi Pflegeteam
• Stadt Dortmund
• 3 Kooperationspartner*innen an drei verschiedenen Orten in Dortmund