Name of the day care centre
Belong Newcastle under Lyme
Company Belong
Address Lower Street
City/Town Newcastle-under-Lyme State/Province Staffordshire
ZIP/Postal Code ST5 2RS
Country United Kingdom
Email Address Tracy.paine@belong.org.uk Contact Person Tracy Paine
Web site or audio-visual material
https://www.belong.org.uk/locations/newcastle-under-lyme
Vision
Belong creates vibrant village communities enabling older people to live the lives that they choose.
How well does the design of the building support this vision: self-report
Extremely well.
What are the most important elements in design
z Unobtrusive safety
z Spaces that are of a domestic scale
z Good lines of sight to help people living with dementia to see the key places they want to go to z Good lines of sight for supervision of people living
with dementia
z Reduced levels of stimulation z Easily seen way finding cues z Familiar furnishings
z Easily found and unobstructed access to a garden, courtyard or outside space
z Opportunities to bring in personal items z Provision of places to be alone
z Provision of places that are shared with the surrounding community
z Being designed with a specific vision of how people living with dementia should be supported
Plan
56 DESIGN DIGNITY DEMENTIA – DAY CARE CENTRES
This picture shows an attendee particpating in one of the Belong community 'Experience Days'. The jukebox is a favourite.
This is an image of the route through from the Bistro to the Heritage Gallery which offers spaces for day care, for attendees and the general public. The rooms in this area include a hair salon, tea rooms, arts and crafts room, library, a reminiscence room and a pub. The photo shows children taking part in the heritage trail and looking at the time line depicting the history of the people and the uses that have been associated with the building. Dementia design features are threaded in with
grab rails, flooring, light, signage and colour. We have day care customers who once danced here when it was a nightclub, and enjoy the opportunity to do the same under the new glitter ball.
This is the Old Pomana Inn, the pub. It sits within the core of the Belong village and within the Heritage Centre which was restored as part of the development.
The pub provides a place for activity, socialising, games and parties and also reminiscence with artifacts from the local Burton brewery, including extremely old beer bottles. Design features include non shiny, non slip flooring with no floor strips at thresholds, colour contrast with furniture, easy to see wayfinding,
understandable imagery, reminiscence plaques with history, good lightning, colour contrast sockets and absence of heavy patterns in fabrics.
The Samuel Belles tea room is named after the potter who lived her in the 18th century. We have used
traditional recognisable furniture and crockery. The mural on the wall was painted by a local artist and it is an image of the Belong Maxims building and the surrounding area using the style of the ancient pottery that was reclaimed on this site. The pottery belongs to the local museum and is on loan to Belong. This room has access to the secure garden with walkways around and a water feature. It also has a kitchen where day care customers and attendees can bake and host afternoon tea parties
Museum and several reminiscence boxes with many items that are used to share history with both older people who live in or visit the village but also to take
58 DESIGN DIGNITY DEMENTIA – DAY CARE CENTRES
Overview
Belong Newcastle under Lyme opened in 2018 as a purpose designed village community for people living with dementia. The village contains many facilities that support the social and creative life of the residents.
Throughout the village internal and external trip hazards in the form of uneven surfaces, steps and/or highly contrasting floor finishes have been avoided and there has been a strong emphasis on providing safety features such as fences, door locks or other barriers to movement in an unobtrusive way.
Sitting areas, gardens, toilets and activity spaces are easily found and the layout facilitates easy, unobtrusive supervision by the staff.
Clutter has been kept to an absolute minimum and a moderate amount of emphasis has been placed on reducing noise levels. Doors that are not intended to be used by people with dementia have been blended with the background while things that are meant to be easily visible have been highlighted by the use of colour, contrast or lighting.
The ways to the outside spaces are very clear and unobstructed to allow easy and safe transition from the inside of the building to the outside and back in again.
A great deal of emphasis has been placed on providing objects and activities for engagement as people walk around. Corridor ends have been utilised as engagement destinations.
The style of furniture is extremely familiar and there are many decorations, ornaments and artworks that are familiar. Community members are allowed to bring in their own, familiar objects.
There are a few places for being by yourself and many places for being with a small number of people.
The purpose of all rooms is clearly identifiable.
There are many easily accessible places for sharing time with people from the surrounding community.