Alzheimer Society funded research aims to improve neighbourhoods for people living with dementia
Professor Samantha Biglieri is researching how wayfinding, infrastructure, and health/social services in small, mid-sized and large Canadian municipalities can better support people with dementia and their care partners.
Urban and regional planning professor Dr. Samantha Biglieri, RPP, MCIP has been awarded a New Investigator Grant from the Alzheimer Society Research Program (external link) for a project on “Neighbourhood Wellbeing and Dementia”, co-funded by Brain Canada Foundation (external link) .
Many people living with dementia (PLWD) wish to continue living in their own homes within their own communities. Crucial support from informal care partners such as family and friends often makes this possible. For both populations, continued access to community is not only a basic human right, but also linked to better physical, mental, and social health. Biglieri’s research will investigate planning strategies that could improve neighbourhoods for them.
The study will track pairs of PLWD and care partners in small, mid-sized, and large Canadian municipalities — exploring how aspects such as wayfinding, infrastructure availability and access, and health/social services differ in each neighbourhood.
Using the project’s findings, Biglieri will host co-design workshops that include people with lived experience of dementia, care partners, planners, urban designers, municipal staff and local Alzheimer Societies. Together, participants will create and adapt planning processes that shape their communities and make existing planning policies more accessible.
Find out more about Professor Biglieri and her Health Access and Planning Lab (external link) .