A growing older population is driving greater demand for health and care services worldwide. In the UK, between 2005/06 and 2015/16 the total number of people aged over 65 increased by 21 per cent, representing nearly 1.7million extra people. Potentially, population ageing is only set to gather pace and these connotes the prevalence of various cognitive impairments most especially dementia. The likelihood for living alone increases with age, with 2million people aged 75 above living alone. Similarly, social isolation is linked to loneliness and this impacts quality ‘active ageing’ as well quality of life of older people living with dementia.

Person centred care has been advocated as a gold standard for caring for older people with dementia, as this ensures best quality care and positive outcomes; however, a person centered design principle for mitigating loneliness and isolation has not been clearly established. Thus, this paper adopts an existing person centered care Framework and design Principles from the Health Building Note (HBN 08-02) to develop person centric design principles for mitigating loneliness and isolation and ensuring improved participation and quality of life for older people living with dementia in residential settings.

There is enormous evidence revealing the quality of the physical and social environments as key factors in ensuring positive health outcomes. Thus, Residential setting as described in this paper refers to the design of the physical and social environment of home care and community based services for older people with dementia. Firstly, this paper explores the care journey of older people with dementia and the challenges across various pathways during care transition. These will identify the various stakeholders and needs of older people living with dementia.

Secondly, this paper reviews contemporary designs solutions pertinent to residential settings. This design solution includes universal design concepts and multi-generational living concept; these will be explored alongside the HBN design principles and person-centered care framework to establish the effectiveness in achieving a person-centric design principle pertinent to older people living with dementia. It is expected that these findings will support local housing authorities, healthcare services teams and family-carers in the delivery of supportive environments for older people living with dementia when designing an adopting new dementia friendly and age friendly. More so, these design principles can support new and existing residential settings to ensure improved participation, functionality and quality of life for older people living with dementia.