Destination Points.

The wall space super-product.

Destination Points are our unique and innovative approach for utilising the potential of wall space to promote well-being.

‘Wall art’ in care homes is generally an afterthought. Something to ‘add a bit of colour’ or just fill an empty space.

The father of modern dementia thinking, Tom Kitwood explains how important the environment is to physical and psychological well-being. Perhaps the impact is greatest when you no longer control your own surroundings because you're living in residential care?

Should you have any doubt of the value we put on our surroundings, take a look at the high street – it's full of stores selling furnishings, DIY products, Bathrooms, Kitchens and so on. Some of the biggest retailers in the world only exist to service our nesting instincts and our need for a place we can call ‘home’.

Bringing relevant, mood-enhancing artwork into the care homes was my ambition from the start. To see how effective content-rich displays can be in contributing to a better quality of life.

We've since created a substantial and growing portfolio of artwork created specifically to help people hold on to their personhood, culture and memories of their lives. The stuff that makes us who we are.

Our themes exists in two dynamic halves: a generic collection of diverse themes from Cars to Coal mining, and a  work-in-progress where we're constantly creating new, locally specific content for the towns and villages up and down the British Isles.

View the range: 

We used to call this ‘Reminiscence Artwork’ but let’s face it, ‘Reminiscence’ is a stinker of a word to spell when you’re using it repeatedly

We've come to call these displays ‘Destination Points’ which is more words but easier to spell, and definitely sounds a better collective noun for our displays.

Destination Points work as individual landmarks and because of this, support independent wayfinding. They also brighten the surroundings, filling it with highly relevant images and words that mean something to the people who live there.

The best use of DP’s is to create a journey. A trail someone can follow independently or with a companion, enjoying the memories brought back to life by the carefully chosen images.

Destination Points can be used as an effective distraction if someone is getting agitated and needs to move their thoughts to a happier place. They also help people feel more comfortable in their surroundings and help maintain connections with the locality.

Simply put, they work on many levels to support residents, something that typical artwork can never do. 

 

Audio presentations for Destination Points

One of the things we worry might diminish peoples’ enjoyment, especially when they engage with DPs on their own, is their ability to read.

All DPs have some written content, even if it’s only captions. Others’, such as ‘Edinburgh’ have a whole, separate display for the text element, partly so people can enjoy the pictures unhindered by the text, and also because there’s so much to be said about the theme.

To help people who can’t read or have visual impairments, we’ve created an integral audio presentation package as an optional add-on to any of our displays - mains power is required.

Sound absorption

Another function we can incorporate into our unique Destination Point graphic display product is sound absorption.

With fully fire-rated materials creating a sound absorbent core, we can now offer the option for artwork that’s not only eye-catching and engaging, but absorbs sound too, making the environment a more comfortable and inviting place to be.

The location that needs this more than anywhere else is the Dining Room where sound-absorbing soft furnishings are impractical. The predominance of hard surfaces makes for some very unpleasant acoustics – intolerable in many cases. So enhancing the visual and acoustic environment can transform the dining experience for many residents.

Themed Memory Boxes

Many of our Destination Points can be enhanced with real artefacts displayed in a themed Memory Box. Adding a three-dimensional facet to the Destination Point experience and engaging more of the senses than picture alone can do.