Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced funding for care of dementia sufferers.
Up to £50m will be available to NHS trusts and local authorities, working in partnership with care providers, to help tailor hospitals and care homes to the needs of people with dementia.
The care providers involved will be required to sign up to the Dementia Care and Support Compact, which commits them to provide first rate care and support for dementia sufferers and their families.
Organisations that bid successfully for money will be able to adapt care homes and hospitals using design principles tested in The King's Fund pilots. It will include specially designed rooms and spaces.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "You don't need to be an expert to know sensitively designed spaces make all of us feel better - so we want people with dementia to be able to benefit from environments that are designed to meet their needs.
"This is just part of meeting the growing challenge of dementia with improvements of every type, including better environments and treatment for those in care.
Every project will involve the sufferers and their families and the projects will form part of a national pilot to showcase the best examples of dementia friendly care environments.
The lessons learnt will then advise local Health and Wellbeing Boards.
The criteria for applying for funding and the deadline for receipt of applications will be announced soon. Successful projects will begin from April 2013.
Hunt added that responding with dignity and compassion to dementia was the "only sensible response" to the urgent challenges faced with the aging population.
