20 May 2022

Dementia Action Week takes place in May each year. The week, instigated by Alzheimer’s Society, is driven by the need to raise awareness of dementia, the symptoms, and what can be done to keep those experiencing dementia safe and comfortable. In this handy guide, Guideposts will look at some of the key ways carers and loved ones can ensure their homes are dementia-friendly and safer for loved ones.

1. Improve Lighting

Many people with dementia, and older people in general, can benefit from better lighting within homes. It can help reduce falls and confusion, especially if the individual has any problems with their vision. It can be helpful to reduce shadows, reflections, and glare.

• Ensure lights are bright, and maximise natural daylight during the day. Open curtains, remove unnecessary blinds, and ensure trees and plants outside are not blocking the light. Exposure to natural light has the added benefit of improving wellbeing.

• Make sure stairs and bathrooms are well lit. This is very important to help prevent falls. Ensure your loved one can reach light switches, and the switches are clearly visible. A white light switch against a light-coloured wall may be difficult to see. Alternatively, automatic light sensors may be a good option. These will automatically turn a light on when they detect movement, and then turn them off when they detect nobody is in the area.

• It is equally important to ensure bedrooms are dark at night to promote proper sleep. Try using blackout curtains to block light from the street and early sunrises. Make sure to place a nightlight within your oved one’s reach, so they can go to the bathroom in the night safely, for instance.

2. Reduce Excess Noise

Excess noise can cause confusion for a person with dementia. They may mistake voices on televisions and radios as being real, and they may have difficulty following or hearing conversations if there is background noise.

• Turn off televisions and radios if they are not being used.

• Incorporate cushions soft flooring and curtains into rooms to help absorb sound.

3. Choose Safer Flooring

• Avoid rugs and mats. Not only is it easy to slip or trip over them, but a person with dementia may become confused and think rugs and mats are objects that they need to step over. This can increase the risk of falls. Shiny floors can be perceived as wet, which may cause distress and confusion, and an individual may struggle to walk over it.

• Choose matt flooring to minimise shine and reflections, and try to ensure walls and floors contrast in colour. It is best to avoid floor colours that may be mistaken for other things. For example, a blue floor may be perceived as water, and a green floor could appear to be grass.

4. Use Contrasting Colours

People with dementia may find it difficult to tell the difference between colours. Things with similar colours may appear to blend into one. Choose:

• Contrasting colours for walls and floors.

• Brightly coloured furniture that contrasts with the wall and floor colours.

• Contrasting colours for doors and bannisters so they stand out and are easily seen.

• A toilet seat in a contrasting colour to the rest of the room.

• Crockery in contrasting colours to the table so the edges of dishes are more easy to see.

Avoid busy patterns or stripes as they can cause confusion and disorientation in people with dementia.

5. Avoid Reflections

People with dementia may perceive reflections to be other people. This can cause distress and confuson. They may not recognise themselves.

• Cover or remove mirrors, and close curtains at night to avoid the person seeing their reflection in the window.

6. Check Household Items

There are household products designed for people with dementia, such as clocks with large displays, phones with large buttons, and reminder devices to prompt people to take medicines or lock doors.

• Automatic shut-off mechanisms can be used to prevent cookers being left on, and a gas detector can be used if a gas hob is used.

• Flood prevention plugs can be a useful addition to sinks and baths. These will automatically let water out of the bath if it becomes too full. Temperature sensing plugs can also be used to provide a visual warning if bath water is too hot.

• It may be useful to clearly label cupboards and boxes with their contents. Use clear, large words and a picture of what is inside. Similarly, labelling photographs of loved ones with names and relationships can be very useful.

• Ensure all furniture has rounded edges. Dementia can cause a decrease in spacial awareness, which can cause someone bump into furniture more often.

Finally…

If you are a carer for someone with dementia, it is important to remember support is available to help you manage any challenges. It is common for carers to experience stress and anxiety, and there are services dedicated to helping you manage. Our Dementia Carers group takes place over Zoom, and features guest speakers, dementia experts, Guideposts staff, and other carers. It is a great opportunity to learn more, chat with others in the same position, and take some time to help look after your emotional wellbeing.

Do you have any other suggestions for making a home more dementia-friendly? Please tell us on Facebook or Twitter.