How to create a dementia-friendly home
Avoid stripes and patterns on the floor, contrasting colours can make things easier to see, and use coloured toilet seats in the loo and plain crockery in the dining room.
Those are among the vital pieces of advice offered in a publication called Creating A Dementia Friendly Home, issued by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.
‘The home environment is critical to the wellbeing of someone with dementia’
The brochure shares simple but practical tips that help those caring for dementia sufferers to kit out their home correctly.
‘The home environment is critical to the wellbeing of someone with dementia and for those who live with them,’ says the publication.
Basic principles include – keeping things simple and easy to understand and keeping surroundings as familiar as possible. Here are some of the things to do:
- use clear signage for rooms at eye level height;
- label contents of cupboards and drawers;
- consider the use of calendars and whiteboards;
- leave the bathroom door open when not in use;
- keep keys, glasses and other important items in the same place.
The brochure also recommends decluttering hallways and rooms
To help safety and wellbeing, the brochure also recommends decluttering hallways and rooms and ensuring smoke alarms are in good working order.
Sufficient lighting is important as it helps the person to see clearly and make sense of their surroundings.
Mirrors can be alarming if the person no longer recognises their own reflection. So use roller blinds to cover mirrors when needed.
