Dementia Inclusive Environment

Creating a dementia inclusive environment. Dementia alone affects 46 million people worldwide, a number likely to grow further as life expectancy continues to increase. The need for us to improve products and environments couldn’t be more crucial, however with concerns over financial return, changing the care environment can often be seen as something hard to justify and time consuming.

However, this does not have to be the case. Caring for people living with dementia means finding new, adapted and often innovative ways to support everyday living. At Find Memory Care we specialise in creating environments and products that encourage engagement and social interaction. The outcomes of making the changes include increased independence, an enhanced the quality of life, wellbeing and contentment.

Creating a Dementia Inclusive Environment

Independence – Enhancing environments to ensure accessibility and comfort for all can make a significant difference to the mental and physical wellbeing for the people living in that space, for instance signage, Signs are a wayfinding aid and when designed and used correctly, will enable a person to maintain their independence and to locate a particular room quickly and easily.

This brings with it a range of beneﬁts including a reduction in slips, trips, and falls, agitation and anxiety levels.

Stimulation – By enhancing the environment to compensate for deteriorating skills the quality of life and overall wellbeing of the person can be improved. Appropriately positioned murals offer residents choices about where to go and what to do and can encourage social interaction and engagement with their surroundings as well as providing appropriate levels of stimulation. There is a list of additional health and wellbeing benefits too, which includes increased levels of exercise and in turn, increased levels of nutrition and hydration.

Engagement – Something as simple as a jigsaw puzzle can be both soothing and engaging. A dementia inclusive jigsaw puzzle with visual memory prompts practical frames and user-friendly piece sizes can provide those living with dementia and the people around them an activity they can do together.

Eating – Getting someone with dementia to eat a nutritious meal or even to eat enough can become a problem as dementia progresses, but help can come from something as simple as changing the dinner plates. A study conducted by Boston University found that patients who ate from brightly coloured plates without patterns consumed 25% more food, the reason for this could be that many people with dementia have difficulty with sight and perception and the coloured plates can help them to distinguish and recognise the food.

The team at Find are experts in help care facilities enhance their environments. If you would like to find out more contact a member of our team

Dementia Inclusive Environment

Creating a Dementia Inclusive Environment

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