Supporting people with dementia in different types of housing

People with dementia can live either independently or with support in a range of different housing types. The options covered in this resource include:

• staying in their own home
• sheltered housing with domiciliary care
• extra care housing.

Aids, adaptations and assistive technology can help people with dementia to live better in all forms of housing and should be considered before making a decision to move home.

Sheltered housing and extra care housing are two options that might be considered if a person with dementia (and their carer) is finding it difficult to stay in their own home. Extra care housing usually provides on-site care and support and a range of facilities such as a café. Some extra care housing schemes specialise in supporting people living with dementia. 

People should have access to information and advice to make the right choice for them at the right time.

• Directories and toolkits Open

  EAC FirstStop Directory of housing and care options
  A directory of housing and care options for older people, use the free text search for search for ‘dementia’. The directory also includes a section for providers.

  EAC FirstStop Directory of Home Services
  Information on local services that can help older people live safely and independently at home. Includes the categories of dementia, aids and equipment, home maintenance, safety and security.

  Extra Care Housing and Dementia Commissioning Checklist - Housing LIN (2011) - Produced for the Department of Health National Dementia Strategy Implementation Group. A checklist to help commissioners develop extra care housing which meets the needs of people with dementia and their families.

  Extra care housing: a focus on dementia – Housing LIN (2018)
  Three ‘viewpoint’ papers on extra care housing for people with dementia and how provision can be improved. The papers are based on a Doctoral Research study from Katey Twyford, Housing LIN Associate.

• Research Open

  Beyond The Front Door: what 'home' means to people with dementia and their carers – Life Story Network (2016)
  A project to examine the importance of ‘home’ in relation to the sense of identity and wellbeing for people living with dementia. This project aimed to develop awareness amongst professionals, particularly housing support staff, to support people with dementia to continue to live at home or when deciding whether to move home.

  Gearing up: housing associations' responses to tenants with dementia from black and minority ethnic backgrounds – Age UK (2015)
  A study into how housing associations providing sheltered housing and extra-care support meet the needs of people with dementia from black and minority ethnic groups.

  Shared Lives and Dementia - Shared Lives South West and Innovations in Dementia (2013)
  Assesses how Shared Lives schemes could support people with dementia and their families as an alternative to residential care or for the provision of short-break or day respite services.

  Provision of social care in extra care housing: the ECHO study - School for Social Care Research (2018)
  Summary findings from a study to explore how care is delivered within Extra Care Housing schemes, including within one specialist dementia facility.

  Individuals with dementia living in extra care housing: an initial exploration of the practicalities and possibilities – Housing LIN (2016)
  Draws together information on how organisations support people with dementia to move into or to stay within an extra care scheme.

  Advantages and disadvantages of different models of housing with care schemes for people living with dementia: report of a 2015 Housing and Dementia Research Consortium (HDRC) annual workshop – University of Worcester - Association for Dementia Studies (2015)

  Money matters: reviews of cost-effective initiatives – Oxford Brookes University / Institute of Public Care (2011)
  Includes an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of extra care housing for people living with dementia.

  ‘Extra care’ housing and people with dementia
  What do we know about what works regarding the built and social environment, and the provision of care and support? A scoping review of the literature 1998-2008

• Case studies Open

  A case study of ‘Henry Court’ from Nehemiah Housing Association Nehemiah Housing Association provides housing and wellbeing services for the multicultural African Caribbean, Asian, Irish and European communities within the West Midlands. This case study on the National Housing Federation website shows how Nehemiah Housing supported one of their residents who was diagnosed with dementia.

  Innovations in dementia – In Control / Helen Sanderson Associates (2016)
  This publication explores good practice in housing support and includes three case studies of extra care housing for people living with dementia. It also looks at how Shared Lives arrangements can be used to provide short break care.

  Shore Green extra care housing. Owned and managed by Irwell Valley Housing Association, Shore Green provides tailored care and support to residents with memory loss and dementia. Self-contained flats and bungalows, means that couples can remain together when one or both is diagnosed with dementia

  • Irwellvalley media release (May 2017)

  Putting dementia into the heart of extra care housing in Wales: a case study from Mold – Housing LIN (2014)
  This case study focuses on the benefits that effective partnership working brings to new extra care schemes. It also includes information on dementia-inclusive design.

• Videos Open

  Living with dementia in extra care housing

  Professionals and practitioners share the ways in which an Extra Care Housing setting can improve the quality of life of both people living with dementia and their carers.

  Margery Girling House, Felixstowe - Integrating dementia needs

  A replacement for a sheltered housing scheme which now meets a range of needs including those of people with dementia in an integrated way.

  Stanton Lodge, Swindon

  Extra care housing enabling couples, where one has dementia, to stay together, living in a supported environment but with the independence of their own purchased flat.

  ECHO research project

  A collaborative venture between the Housing LIN and researchers from the universities of Bristol, Worcester and Kent. The project looked at the provision of extra care housing schemes for older people, including older people living with dementia.

  Listening to residents in extra care housing: findings from the ECHO research project

  Influencing policy and operations: outcomes from the ECHO research project