Making a home dementia-friendly can significantly increase the quality of life for someone living at home with Alzheimer’s or a different type of dementia.
As dementia can affect people’s memory, coordination and ability to recognise things, one of the best ways to make life easier is to make some changes at home.
Making these adaptations to your home environment will help you stay as independent as possible and create a safer environment if you have trouble remembering where things are and how they work.
If a family member is living with dementia, these tips can help you with dementia care at home.
Caring for someone with dementia long term can be difficult and we hope these tips will make life a little bit easier for you.
Here are 10 simple ways and tips on how to make your home dementia-friendly:
1. Give each room better lighting to help you see clearly
Light is incredibly important for someone living with dementia. Good lighting can help you avoid confusion, reduce risk of falls, make orientation easier and benefits your overall wellbeing.
Make sure as much natural light as possible can get into your home. To do this, remove unnecessary curtains and blinds so windows can let in daylight.
If you can, use curtains that are made of light fabric and are light in colour to reflect natural light during the day. If the house is particularly dark even during the day, consider using higher watt light bulbs.
In the bedroom, a great way to help you sleep better is to use heavier curtains which makes the room darker and signals that it is time for bed.
2. Keep your home tidy and remove clutter
If the house is in a bit of a mess with lots of things lying around, it can be difficult for you to see the item you need. An untidy home can also make you feel confused and distracted.
The tidier the room, the more focus you can put on the items that you actually use because they will be easier to spot.
Putting away or getting rid of things that are not frequently used is a good way to keep rooms clutter-free.
3. Get rid of trip hazards to make sure floors are safe
For safety reasons, get rid of things that are on the floor as these can cause you to trip and fall.
Removing things that can cause you to fall is essential for your safety and lets you move around the house freely without worry.
In addition to good lighting to help you see better, removing rugs, mats, cables and anything else that is a potential trip hazard ensures the flooring is safe.
Floors should preferably be plain in colour and be a different colour to the walls. A shiny floor could cause confusion.
4. Use contrasting colours with minimal patterns
Dementia can affect your ability to tell the difference between colours, so it is important to make it easy as possible to identify walls, floors, furniture and other things around the house.
A good way to do this is to choose furniture and furnishings with bright, bold colours, such as tables, chairs and beds.
Contrasting colours can help you find things more easily, so having a toilet seat that is a different colour to the rest of the bathroom is a good idea as well as using contrasting crockery.
Patterns like stripes should be avoided as they can be confusing or cause disorientation.
5. Use signs and labels to remind you where things are and things to do
As dementia progresses, your ability to remember where things are or things that should be done may get worse.
Labels and signs around the house can make you find things easier, such as the bathroom, and help you organise your daily routine. Keep keys, mobile phone and wallet in the same place.
Consider putting a calendar up to remember important dates and times, such as when to take medication.
Signs should ideally have a picture along with clear wording to make them easy to understand. Labelling doors, drawers and cupboards shows what behind or inside them.
An alternative to labelling could be to get see-through cupboard doors.
6. Make the bathroom safe and easy to use
There are many ways to make a bathroom safe and easy to use for someone living with dementia.
Put a picture or a sign on the bathroom door to make it easily recognisable and avoid bath mats as they can appear to be barriers.
If towels, the toilet seat, toilet paper, toiletries and other things have contrasting colours to the rest of the room they will be much easier to recognise. Consider leaving the light on at night to make it easier to find in the dark.
Clearly labelling the taps with hot and cold is also helpful and a flood prevention plug in the bathtub can save you from water flowing over the edges.
7. Make frequently used things in the kitchen visible
The kitchen can be a confusing place for a person living with dementia, particularly as most utensils are stored away and hidden from plain sight.
Putting labels on cupboards and drawers makes it clearer where things are. An option is to take off cupboard doors altogether.
Removing clutter avoids confusion and make sure to store away potentially harmful substances like cleaning products, remove artificial fruit and keep pet food separate.
You should preferably use plain coloured plates to make food stand out and try to use clear containers to store meals for later. Crockery should have contrasting colours to tables and table cloths.
Dementia can affect your ability to grip and use items such as forks and knives. If you start to struggle with this, it may be a good idea to get adaptive utensils.
8. Remove or cover mirrors and reduce reflections
Mirrors and reflections can cause distress as people with dementia may not recognise themselves.
It is also common for people with dementia to think that the person in the mirror is a stranger, which can be a frightening experience.
Either cover or remove mirrors and close the curtains in the evening to avoid reflection in windows.
9. Make the bedroom a safe and comfortable space
A good first step is to make the bed easier to see, which means getting linen and bedding with contrasting colours to the rest of the room.
A wardrobe full of clothes can be overwhelming as there may be too much choice. Instead, try to get clothes out the night before or in the morning. This encourages the person with dementia to dress themselves.
A night light by the bed helps with orientation if you wake up in the middle of the night and can guide you back to bed after a visit to the loo.
As mentioned above, using heavier curtains to make the room darker at night benefits sleeping.
10. Use products designed for people living with dementia
Some products are specifically designed for people living with dementia and can help with everyday life, also known as assistive technology.
They include:
- A digital clock with a large display showing both date and time
- A phone with large buttons
- Devices giving audio prompts to help you remember things
- Sensor lights
- Crockery and utensils
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