New challenge from the Design Council

The Design Council and the Department of Health have launched a competition to 'rethink life with dementia'. The challenge aims to help both people with dementia and their carers to live an easier life and invites teams to submit ideas for a slice of a £360K prize to be invested in a winning idea.

Dementia is a term used to describe various brain disorders that have in common a loss of brain functions that is usually progressive and eventually severe. There are many types of dementia which is a big part of the challenge of this brief; the solution should consider how it can meet individual needs. The overview of the brief also highlights that 'one in three of us who live to 65 will have some form of dementia before we die,' and that 'a million people in the UK will be living with the condition by 2021,' and challenges participants to consider carers, the progressive nature of dementia, the background and culture of patients suffering, but also states that the opportunity lies in the period immediately after a diagnosis, before residential care becomes necessity. 

Teams can be made up of people with varying skills and can be partnerships created from small/medium enterprises, charities and social enterprises, large corporates, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and engineers, architects and developers. Ideally each team would include people with design expertise and people with the ability to implement solutions.

To apply, download the call for entries document here. All teams must submit a PDF to the specifications described by 5pm on 30 September 2011.