DEMANS24-26
"The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a globally disproportionate impact on the well-being of people living with dementia particularly those who are community-dwelling who have seen reduced access to healthcare and increased risk of loneliness, isolation, and depression. Consequently, the 'home' has become a vital space of care that remains lesser-researched in dementia studies. This can be richly explored in the country of Trkiye, which borders the West, East, and Global South, and has a distinctly blended modern and collectivistic outlook regarding familial ties and gender roles. Focusing on Trkiyes capital city, Ankara, this project will explore the physical (natural, built, material, biophilic) and social (spousal, familial, communal) features of home environments, examining the relations between dementia, place-based experiences, daily living, and well-being. Inspired by integrated theories on relational and in-the-moment well-being, this project adopts a mixed methods case study design and asks the overarching research question: ""How do everyday interactions with both physical and social features of home environments promote or hinder the health, well-being and identity of older women living with dementia?"". This timely holistic project seeks to develop new scientific knowledge about the complex relations between, and intersectionality of, dementia, gender, landscapes, socio-economic status, familial dynamics, and daily living in the context of Trkiye. The research has strong interdisciplinary links across architecture, human geography, anthropology and gerontology, with exchange of knowledge between the candidate and host, Bilkent University's Interior Architecture and Environmental Design department. The findings coincide with UN and EU research plans, will fulfil an existing knowledge gap on people living with dementia in Turkish urban landscapes, and will lead to outputs on future dementia-friendly designs of urban-based apartments and housing."
BILKENT UNIVERSITESI VAKIF (TR)