How to Make Your Home Dementia-Friendly
Living with someone experiencing dementia can be a beautiful yet challenging journey. One crucial aspect is ensuring their environment fosters safety, comfort, and well-being. By making simple adjustments, you can transform your home into a dementia-friendly haven, reducing confusion and promoting independence.
Focus on Navigation and Memory:
- Clear and consistent pathways: Eliminate clutter and rearrange furniture to create clear walkways throughout the house.
- Familiar landmarks: Use colourful accents, photos, and familiar objects to create visual cues that aid navigation and recognition.
- Minimise distractions: Reduce clutter and visual noise, which can be overwhelming for individuals living with dementia.
- Create rummage bags or boxes with familiar props and mementoes that the person could use as part of reminiscence or to assist with navigating a specific task.
- Labelling and organisation: Clearly label doors, drawers, and cupboards to promote independent tasks and reduce frustration.
Enhance Safety and Security:
- Falls prevention: Remove tripping hazards like rugs and loose wires. Secure furniture to walls and install grab bars in bathrooms.
- Reduce potential dangers: Lock away harmful substances, medications, and sharp objects. Pad sharp corners and install nightlights in hallways and bathrooms.
- Monitor exits: Fit doors and windows with alarms to alert to wandering especially if the person living with dementia is at a stage where they have lost their time, place, person spheres.
- Fire safety: Ensure smoke detectors, fire blankets and possibly small fire extinguishers are readily accessible and functional. Consider installing emergency call buttons for added peace of mind.
Embrace Comfort and Stimulation:
- Lighting: Provide ample natural light and soft, warm lighting during the evening to avoid shadows and confusion.
- Temperature control: Maintain a comfortable temperature to prevent discomfort and agitation.
- Sensory experiences: Incorporate textures, aromas, and calming music to create a soothing environment.
- Familiar routines: Maintain daily routines and schedules as much as possible to provide stability and predictability.
Remember, every individual living with dementia experiences the condition differently. Adapt your approach based on their specific needs and preferences. Engage them in the process of creating a dementia-friendly home, utilising their abilities, and fostering a sense of control.
By creating a safe and supportive environment, you can transform your home into a haven for your loved one living with dementia, fostering their well-being, and making this journey a little more manageable for everyone involved.
Our Live-In Dementia Care Services
Moving away from a much-loved home into a residential care home can be stressful and confusing for someone living with dementia. Live-in care offers the ideal solution, allowing your loved one to receive care from the comfort of their own home.
Our carers undergo comprehensive training in dementia care and our in-house dementia specialist is on hand to offer support. We dedicate time to really get to know the person under our care, understanding their preferences, interests, and preferred ways of doing things.
It can be difficult knowing that your loved one has dementia and requires extra support. Get in touch with our friendly team today to understand what live-in dementia care could offer.