World Alzheimer's Month

World Alzheimer’s Month raises awareness, challenges the stigma, and recognizes the struggle individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia experience.

Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that causes memory loss and other limitations in cognitive abilities that impacts activities of daily living. Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 50 million people worldwide. The number of people living with dementia is predicted to triple by 2050 to an estimated 152 million.

Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 50 million people worldwide. The number of people living with dementia is predicted to triple by 2050 to an estimated to rise to 152 million.

We would like to highlight the work from a former graduate of the Inclusive Design Graduate Research Group at the University at Buffalo, School of Architecture and Planning, Jennifer McQuilkin. As part of her thesis work, she looked at design features that support health and wellness for those with Alzheimer’s disease. She researched memory care environments and how their design impacts residents’ behaviors and quality of life outcomes. Jennifer evaluated current design recommendations in a specific memory care facility to determine how these guidelines are working in practice. Her research found that many of the design guidelines for memory care environments directly relate to the Goals of Universal Design.