{"id":704386,"date":"2026-05-30T19:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/704386\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T19:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:46:13","slug":"can-metro-vancouver-be-a-better-home-for-people-with-dementia-daily-hive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/704386\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Metro Vancouver be a better home for people with dementia? | Daily Hive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new study is urging city planners in Metro Vancouver to consider people living with dementia.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0264275126001137?via%3Dihub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">research<\/a> from Simon Fraser University (SFU) found that things that bother most people \u2014 like streets packed with cars, cyclists, and e-scooters, construction shutting off walkways, and uneven sidewalks \u2014 have an even greater impact on people living with dementia.<\/p>\n<p>Dementia is an umbrella term for people with loss of \u201cmemory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life,\u201d according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alz.org\/alzheimers-dementia\/what-is-dementia#about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alzheimer\u2019s Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kishore Seetharaman, the lead author of the research, said that people with dementia often face a \u201cdual stigma.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe stigma of aging and the discrimination that comes with living with dementia,\u201d he said, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0264275126001137?via%3Dihub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He added that accessibility needs for people with dementia are often overlooked in urban design.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot because of overt discrimination, but rather there\u2019s just a lack of knowledge and awareness about their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Researchers interviewed and walked with 14 people living with dementia across Metro Vancouver to understand the unique challenges they face. They then presented their findings to municipal planners to learn their perspectives.<\/p>\n<p>They found that several factors make Metro Vancouver less considerate for people with dementia: sidewalks in a \u201cpoor state,\u201d cyclists and scooters on walkways, not enough places to rest or public washrooms, and street crossings (cars turning while people are still crossing, short crossing times, and high curbs).<\/p>\n<p>These factors all can lead to anxiety and stress. For example, unmaintained sidewalks can cause fear of falling.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the research also found that familiar landmarks (like art) are important for helping people orient themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople living with dementia have unique accessibility requirements in that there is far more emphasis on environmental support for orientation and way finding,\u201d said Seetharaman.<\/p>\n<p>He added that it is important that the urban environment has \u201clegibility,\u201d meaning it transmits spatial information, as well as \u201cdistinctiveness,\u201d meaning it differs from other urban centres.<\/p>\n<p>Seetharaman said that city planners were open to feedback and learning more, and understood the \u201cshortcomings in urban planning and design.\u201d For example, they pointed out that financial constraints make it challenging to maintain public washrooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to see greater engagement with people living with dementia to increase awareness of the important role that the built environment has in everyday life,\u201d Seetharaman said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study is urging city planners in Metro Vancouver to consider people living with dementia. The research&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-704386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}