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If you are living with someone with dementia, ensuring your home is as dementia-friendly as possible goes a long way in helping those with dementia to maintain independence while feeling (and staying) safe. Read on for tips on how to create a dementia-friendly home. A common misconception is that dementia only affects memory. While memory is affected, people with dementia will also have difficulties accurately perceiving what’s around them as well as with ordering and sequencing information. People with dementia may also encounter difficulties in the following areas: ◦ paying attention ◦ thinking logically, solving problems ◦ remembering time, location, faces ◦ speaking/using language correction ◦ reading the emotions of others ◦ activity of daily living There are a number of changes you can make in the home that will help with these challenges. Challenge: Judging the height of the floor when the flooring colour changes People with dementia often find “busy” floors a challenge. The edge of a carpet can appear to be a step, and a dark area can look like a hole in the floor, both of which can be very disconcerting.  What helps? Use of colour and contrast Try to provide light coloured flooring as dark colours can cause depth illusions. You may have seen someone with dementia high-stepping over carpet rods, shadows, or the edge of a rug thinking they signify a change of level. Try to avoid having patterned rugs in your home as they will be difficult for someone with dementia to navigate. Also try to ensure that lighting isn’t causing shadows across the floor. Challenge: Inability to find objects or places because of a lack of colour contrast You may have noticed that someone with dementia has difficulty finding doors (if they are the same colour as the wall) or being able to decipher food such as cauliflower or pasta on a lightly coloured plate which is due to the lack of colour contrast. You may find the people with dementia tend to turn off plug sockets which can be problematic, especially if it’s for something like a fridge/freezer. It’s a good idea to keep these sockets the same colour as the wall, or cover them completely to avoid this happening. What helps? Painting doors a different colour to the wall can be very helpful to someone who has difficulty placing objects, just as using brightly coloured plates or cups can aid perception of meals. Research has shown that there was an increase of 25% for food intake and 84% for liquid intake when using high-contrast intervention red glass vs clear glass. You might also consider using high contrast colours for light switches, toilet seats, and hand rails as well as creating signs or information using white writing on a dark background. Challenge: Difficulty finding objects (e g handbags, clothing) even though the item is in front of someone and appears to be in their field of vision What helps? Lighting is the single most important aid to vision. Try to avoid lighting that causes shadows and use main lighting in the ceiling not just table lights or lamps. If possible, add additional lighting to task areas, signposting, and orientation cues. You might also consider things like using a brightly coloured handbag or adding a red, orange, or yellow keyring to keys to make them stand out a little bit more. Challenge: Difficulty in locating people or objects because of other distracting or competing visual information such as patterned wallpaper  What helps? Trying to pick out a chair or a door with distracting and ‘competing’ visual information present can be incredibly difficult for someone with dementia so try to keep things simple and avoid patterned wallpaper or very ‘busy’ walls. Good lighting is also important, as is good use of colour and contrast. People with dementia can see warm colours such as yellow, red, and orange well so consider using these around the home to help locate objects. (Note that cold colours such as green, blue, and purple are not seen well, likewise with pastel colours which are also are not distinguishable from one other.) Add a coloured table cloth to tables (especially glass tables) to make them easier to locate. Challenge: Resisting walking on shiny flooring because it looks wet or slippery What helps? Shiny floors can be very disconcerting for someone with dementia as they look wet and slippery and therefore dangerous to walk on. If you have a very shiny floor, you may consider changing this to something matte and non-reflective. Although this may be a little more costly that some other recommended changes, it can make a huge difference to someone with dementia who needs to use rooms which may have shiny floors such as kitchens or bathrooms. Challenge: Misinterpreting reflections in mirrors, windows or shiny surfaces A lady with dementia once told her carers that there was a mouse in her bathroom. She wouldn’t use the room because there was a mouse in there. The carers eventually realised that the lady was seeing a door stop reflected in a shiny bin which looked exactly like a mouse to the lady.  What helps?
Think about where mirrors and reflective surfaces are placed within your home. Having a mirror on the wall as you enter the bathroom could be perceived by someone with dementia as the room being occupied when they see their own reflection, meaning they may not want to enter the room, just as having a door stop by a shiny bin could look exactly like a mouse. Try to think about the placement of mirrors or reflective surfaces or remove them altogether. What else can I do? General things you can do around the home are:
If you have any questions about how to make your home more dementia-friendly or there’s anything else you would like to ask us, please hesitate to contact us. Email: [email protected] Phone: 01983 220200 Website: www.alzheimercafeiow.org.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/AlzheimerCafeIOW Comments are closed.
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