Service Thinking in Architectural Design for Dementia in the Finnish Context

Dementia is a globally growing problem, which is putting pressure on public services, including those in Nordic countries, to offer care to everyone in need. Contemporary approaches to dementia care are evolving from institutional and medical solutions to more human-centred, community-based, and emotion-oriented, which positively impacts the well-being of persons with dementia. Principles of ageing-in-place and the benefits of living at home are strongly emphasised in research. Although cognitive health and memories are associated with the physical environment and architecture and design can play a powerful role in supporting independent living, public system in Finland remains traditional, focused on providing institutional care. Architecture drives the care system and acts as a barrier to delivering ageing-in-place rather than a resource. The architectural and service models for serving seniors with dementia require transformation. This article proposes applying the emerging concept of service architecture to the design of environments for ageing-in-place and transforming care systems with a user-centred systemic approach to spaces, community, and service design. It explores opportunities for co-creation with users with dementia and other stakeholders and describes a new system of services linked with new spatial programming. The architectural solution is a network of spaces, including those for living, care, and connection. Its elements and their design were defined through case studies conducted in Finnish municipalities involved in research. New spatial and service programming, designed with the service architecture concept, has the potential to change the paradigm, transform systems of care, and enable seniors experiencing memory decline to remain in their homes.