Leading floor manufacturer Tarkett is doing their part to address a serious health condition that's rapidly on the rise. By 2030, Dementia-and particularly Alzheimer's Disease-will affect approximately 65 million people. Given increased lifespans across the globe, healthcare providers as well as designers of long-term care facilities will increasingly confront the condition.

Tarkett's Specialized Resilient Flooring has a Calming Effect on Alzheimer's Patients

In consultation with leading researchers, Tarkett has developed a design protocol guide that assists contractors and designers in creating spaces that can help patients live with the condition. As Tarkett specializes in flooring, they've developed several varieties of floors that assist patients to develop an emotional connection with a given space.

According to Professor Rudolf Schricker, Vice-President of the Union of German Architects and Designers, "Identification and curiosity are life-prolonging and activating factors for ill people living in a healing environment... Floor design can help people slow down, to concentrate, to orientate themselves, to have fun or to move more freely."

Tarkett's guide not only summarizes the particular qualities of floors that help people with Dementia to recognize a particular environment, it also addresses other design elements, including lighting as well as room layout in communal, reception, walkways, and treatment areas: "In total, six typical areas that shape the smooth running of an Alzheimer's facility and the orientation of patients through the facility are identified and analyzed."

About the Manufacturer: A leading designer and manufacturer of integrated flooring for education, healthcare, hospitality, and sports venues, Tarkett offers multiple solutions in a broad range of materials: "we leverage our worldwide expertise, our broad product portfolio across vinyl, linoleum, rubber, laminate, wood, carpet, athletic track, artificial turf and accessories, as well as our intimate understanding of customers' needs to offer distinctive flooring experiences."