Creating a dementia-friendly home environment
People living with dementia often have different sensory perceptions, and their immediate environment can have a large impact on their wellbeing and quality of life. Creating a dementia-friendly environment can go a long way to improving the lives of people with dementia. A dementia-friendly environment is familiar to the person, easily accessible, safe, secure, and supports the person living with dementia to retain their independence.
Changes you can make to create a dementia-friendly home environment
Here are some changes that can be made in every room of the home to support a person living with dementia.
You can improve the way people move through and use the space by incorporating simple ideas.
Consider the following dementia-friendly changes:
- Use a D shape door handle that contrasts to the door to ease access
- Contrast the colour of doors to surrounding walls
- Consider painting the architraves or door frame a contrasting colour
- Consider having the toilet door a different colour to other doors
- Consider symbols or photographs to indicate the function of the room
- Use either Arial or Helvetica fonts for door signage. Place signage at 1.2 metre height so they can be easily seen
- Ensure contrast in light sockets. You can also put coloured tape around the switch to assist with identification
- Use larger switches for turning on and off
- Use a whiteboard or calendar to post notes and reminders.
Use our online home improvement tool to discover some easy ways you can make your home more dementia-friendly, room by room.