Learning to live well with dementia can be challenging for the individual experiencing symptoms and their loved ones, especially when they don’t have experience with the condition. As no two people’s experiences with dementia are the same, it can be difficult to anticipate how exactly life will change over the coming weeks and months.
Research and professionals agree that remaining at home is beneficial for people with dementia, keeping them comfortable and confident as symptoms progress. Today, we’ll explore how you can create a dementia-friendly home environment.
Why Is it Important to Create a Dementia-Friendly Home?
Learning of a dementia diagnosis can be daunting and nerve-wracking. However, it may be helpful to know that individuals experiencing symptoms don’t have to leave home to receive care and maintain a good quality of life.
Living at home gives your loved one more independence, allowing them to continue their familiar routine, see friends and family as often as they like, and pursue hobbies and social activities. It might be difficult to do these things when living in a care home.
Creating a dementia-friendly home environment is essential to keeping your loved one in their familiar space. This may also help reduce agitation and manage confusion, helping keep them comfortable for longer. The home can promote positive memories, even as their condition progresses.
We have a useful guide on the importance of maintaining independence for the elderly if you’d like to learn more.
Making the Home More Dementia-Friendly
Your loved one’s home layout has a more significant impact on their everyday life than you may realise. Dementia can cause symptoms such as memory loss, confusion and slower cognitive decline, all of which can lead to forgetting how to use everyday items, or where they’re kept.
Making simple changes around the home can help support your loved one’s independence, allowing them to adapt to their progressing symptoms without overwhelming them.
Below are some of the best adaptations to make your loved one’s home more dementia-friendly:
1. Good Lighting
Lighting can have a significant impact on people living with dementia, helping them navigate their surroundings and locate the things they need. Individuals with dementia respond well to natural light, especially those who get confused about the time of day or who experience sundowner’s syndrome.
To ensure good lighting throughout your loved one’s home, consider:
- Keeping windows clean by hiring a weekly or bi-weekly window cleaner
- Make sure net curtains and outdoor foliage aren’t blocking outdoor light
- Write reminders for your loved one to open the curtains or blinds every morning
- Install dimmer light switches that can be adjusted throughout the day
- Use motion-sensor lights along the path from the bedroom to the bathroom
2. Assistive Technology
Assistive technology is a wonderful tool for individuals with dementia, making everyday life easier and safer. There are plenty of devices available for hire or purchase that can aid memory, boost safety and help your loved one continue with their daily routines.
These include:
- Reminder devices: A device that can play pre-recorded audio prompts to remind your loved one of certain things, such as medication times and appointments.
- Item locators: Add a tag to your loved one’s most frequently used belongings, such as keys, phone, and glasses, to make them easily located should they misplace or forget where they left them.
- Virtual assistants: Home devices, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, can listen and answer your loved one’s questions, providing answers and information, setting alarms and reminders, and playing soothing music.
- Clocks and calendars: Dementia clocks and calendars are specifically designed to be easy to read, can often announce the time and date, and have large, simplified displays that show important information.
3. Floors and Trip Hazards
People with dementia may notice more apparent mobility difficulties, including loss of balance and coordination. They may need walking aids, such as a cane or walker, to navigate their home safely.
Older adults are more at risk of severe consequences resulting from a fall, especially if they’re frail.
To avoid falls and reduce the risk of hospital admission, you could:
- Remove any rugs or mats, replace slippery flooring with non-slip alternatives, and check carpets to make sure they’re not loose
- Make sure the floor is clearly visible and not the same colour as the walls
- Use wire clips to keep all cords and leads out of the way
- Add a safety gate across the staircase
- Remove any low furniture that may become a trip hazard
4. Furniture and Fittings
A common side effect of dementia is feelings of disorientation, even when in familiar places like home. They might struggle to recognise new belongings, clothes and even themselves in the mirror. Understandably, this can be very distressing to your loved one, so we want to minimise the home’s negative impact as much as possible.
Making too many major changes to a person with dementia’s home can be startling and make symptoms worse. If you choose to change their furniture, do it slowly and minimise the impact in other ways. For example, if you need to change their armchair for an electronic riser recliner to minimise fall risk, avoid changing its placement.
Adjustments to furniture and fittings to make the home more dementia-friendly include:
- Remove or cover up bold patterned furnishings, such as stripes or polka dots
- Use bright colours that contrast each other so it’s easy to distinguish between the floor, walls and furniture
- Add assistive technology to make living easier, such as a riser recliner chair or bed hoist
 5. Noise
An environment that is too loud can make it harder for your loved one to concentrate or process information. To prevent noise from becoming a hindrance to their condition, try turning off the TV and radio when they’re not being used, or use the timer function to turn them off after a set period of time.
Other ways you can manage noise include:
- Use soft furnishings, like carpets and cushions, to help absorb noise
- Add felt pads to doors and cupboards to avoid them slamming
- Disengage the doorbell if loud noises are startling
6. Outdoor Spaces
There are several ways you can make the outside of your loved one’s home more dementia-friendly, including enhancing safety and visibility. If your loved one is experiencing confusion about recognising their home or has a tendency to wander outside, making it easily recognisable may be helpful.
To optimise your loved one’s outdoor spaces, consider:
- Add lots of planters or ornaments outside, especially if they love bright colours or a certain type of ornament, such as garden gnomes
- Paint the front door a different colour
- Add a sheltered chair and table set outside so they can spend time outside without wandering
- Ensure paths and lawns are level and free of clutter
- Secure the garden with a gate to prevent them from leaving
- If your loved one enjoys gardening, add raised flower beds to make it easier for them to continue their hobby
7. Safety Features
To help your loved one remain at home for as long as possible, safety features are essential. These should be added to every room of the house to make sure they can live well and independently.
For example, you could:
- Install grab bars and handrails around the bathroom to make it easier to use
- Add a raised toilet seat and shower chair to the bathroom
- Keep a perch in the kitchen near the countertops so they can continue preparing food
- Get a chair or bed hoist to make getting up and down easier
- Label everything, including the bathroom door and kitchen cupboards
- Consider hiring a stair lift if your loved one is having trouble with mobility
To learn more, continue reading our helpful room-by-room guide on how to create a dementia-friendly home.
8. Dementia-Friendly Colours
Colour and contrast are important factors to consider when making a dementia-friendly home. Contrast makes it easier for your loved one to see things and avoids them becoming confused. For example, white handrails on cream walls might blend together and stop your loved one from using their safety equipment. Painting the handrail a brighter colour ensures they can see it before putting themselves in danger.
Here are a few ways you can use colour to enhance your loved one’s home:
- Paint the front door a dark colour to prevent wandering
- Paint handles, railings and grab bars so they’re easy to see
- Consider changing the floor colour so it’s darker than the walls and easily distinguishable
The colour you choose may simply be down to personal preference and your loved one’s tastes. Certain experts believe that red is best for dementia-friendly homes, as it’s easily visible to weaker eyes, but others have found success with blue, thanks to its calming and stress-relieving nature.
Talk to Trinity Homecare Today
If your loved one requires home care, chat with one of our friendly care team today. We offer a free, no-obligation enquiry and assessment service and are happy to offer information and advice to help you find the perfect home care solution.
Call us on 0207 183 4884 in confidence for a free no obligation quotation. If enquiring outside of our opening hours, please complete our online form and we will contact you the next day.
