Tasmanian dementia care providers and architects will attend the Dementia Design Seminar in Hobart today to discuss the growing importance of designing positive living environments for people living with dementia.

Tasmanian dementia care providers and architects will attend the Dementia Design Seminar in Hobart today to discuss the growing importance of designing positive living environments for people living with dementia.

Improving the living environments of people with dementia is critical as more than 5,500 Tasmanians currently have dementia, with this number likely to more than double to 12,000 by 2030.

Colm Cunningham, Director of Operations, for The Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling, UK will speak about the importance of adapting the physical environment for people with dementia.

"It is important that we consider how people with dementia live their lives. There is so much that can be done to dramatically improve everyday life. The number of people with dementia is increasing, so we need to act now," Colm Cunningham said.

"The consequence of bad design is a huge environmental disability for the person with dementia and can result in poor clinical decisions and reduced social interaction."

"We know that designing environments which help compensate for some of the disabilities of dementia, can also lead to improved quality of life and physical well being."

"The general community understands the barrier that stairs present for a person using a wheelchair, yet knowledge about the effective design of environments for people with dementia is often poorly applied."

The seminar will also consider recent UK research findings about night-time care for people with dementia living in residential care settings.

The seminar is co-sponsored by the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre (WDREC) a centre within the Menzies Research Institute, UTAS and Aged & Community Services Tasmania.

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