This program for students of architecture implemented a dementia supporter training course and simulated dementia. In addition to the training and simulation, students evaluated their past home designs for ease of use for persons with dementia and presented proposals for improvement. To investigate the learning effectiveness of this program, training surveys were conducted before and after the classes and home design improvement proposals. Analysis of the surveys confirmed that the program improved students' awareness and knowledge of architectural devices for persons with dementia as well as their of their living environment issues. Furthermore, the analysis confirmed that it is important to improve student awareness of dementia-related issues in their own home designs in order to promote their interest in and understanding of home design for persons with dementia.

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Various kinds of tableware for the elderly requiring nursing care have been developed in recent super aging society in order to support their eating. Accordingly, usability assessment of such tableware has been done intensively up to now. As one of the usability factors, we focused on conformity between the edge of the inside of plate and spoon naturally affecting scooping motion. Its empirical analysis, however, has yet to be done sufficiently. In our previous study, we developed an effective experimental protocol using a combination of a spoon and a plate with an edge of its inside which is conformed well to the edge of the spoon. Using this protocol, we conducted experiments employing ten elderly subjects and a motion capture system in order to clarify the effects of the conformity on eating efficiency. Empirical results demonstrated that the conformity decreased the total number of scooping, the number of collecting and duration of the collecting phase as well as total time, strongly suggesting its significance in eating efficiency.

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Recent years, importance of social infrastructure for people with intellectual and mental disabilities is growing. In order to develop the social infrastructure for the people with intellectual and mental disabilities, it is important to grasp transportation characteristics and its limiting factors about them. Previous studies have pointed out the possibility of independent action for people with disabilities as a major limiting factor. The purpose of this study is to confirm the importance of measures to support travel behavior by understanding the trends in the various daily activities of the people with intellectual and mental disabilities from the possibility of independent action.

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