Enlighten: Lighting for older people and people living with dementia

David McNair is a chartered lighting engineer with extensive experience of lighting for interior and exterior environments. He is a Past President of the Institution of Lighting Professionals, where he served on their technical committee for 12 years, latterly as Chair. Since 2005 he has been studying, designing, advising and lecturing on dementia environments. Much of this time was spent working with dementia experts across Scotland. Realising the significance of natural light, he joined the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Daylight Group, and became Secretary to it in 2015. In addition he has collaborated with researchers at Heriot-Watt University and was a consultant to HammondCare.

Richard Pollock formed the architectural and planning consultancy Burnett Pollock Associates with partner David Burnett in 1974. Since then, the Edinburgh-based practice has established both design and research expertise in sustainable development, specialised care accommodation, assistive technology for disabilities and dementia friendly design. Richard is currently a consultant to the newly formed practice, BPA Architecture. He was also the Director of Architecture at the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) at the University of Stirling between 2008 and 2015. Richard is currently an associate consultant architect for HammondCare Dementia Centre in Australia where he is an advisor on all issues of improving the design of the built environment for people with dementia. As an integral part of this consultancy work, Richard has a particular interest in the proven role that better lighting plays in the health and wellbeing of all older people.

Colm Cunningham is the Executive Director (Research/International) of HammondCare’s Dementia Centre, which provides dementia consultancy, education and research services internationally. It also operates the Australian government funded Dementia Support Australia. Formerly the Deputy Director of UK Dementia Services Development Centre, Colm’s research focus and expertise are in pain management, environmental design that supports people with dementia, dementia and delirium, dementia and intellectual disabilities and night care. Colm is widely published and is also a Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, a visiting fellow in dementia design and practice at the University of Edinburgh School of Health in Social Science and a member of the Wicking Strategic Review Panel in Australia.