OR DEMENTIA hy-led design can improve medical and social care environments for people with dementia.
with the use of blackout blinds at night helps to regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle as well as providing obvious visual cues about whether it’s night or day.
If there isn’t as much daylight as you might wish, the light reflectance value (LRV) of surfaces becomes even more important. Most older people have some sight impairment but also difficulty with glare, so an LRV of between 10% and 40% is perfect for floors. Walls should have a significantly different LRV so that people with poor 3D perception can easily tell where the floor ends, and the wall begins. This gives people the confidence to move through the space without fear.
HEARING Of course, it’s not just about sight. A truly dementia-friendly environment is designed with consideration for all the senses. People with dementia get more easily overwhelmed by sensory stimulation of all kinds. They might find it harder to pick out speech over background noise, or they might find sudden noises frightening and confusing. Some research shows that removing unnecessary noise can reduce aggressive behaviour and even encourage people with dementia to eat more.
Family members often raise concerns about the unwelcome weight loss, even to the point of malnutrition. It’s surprising to think that this could be fixed with better interior design, but the evidence suggests that it is possible. The crashing around and loud talking that comes at mealtimes can put residents of their food, it makes sense that removing these distractions
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will help them to eat better. Obvious changes include switching off televisions that aren’t being watched and encouraging food workers to handle cutlery and crockery more quietly. But flooring and soft furnishings can also make a huge difference by absorbing noise rather than magnifying clatter.
HARD EVIDENCE OF
HEALTH BENEFITS Apart from the natural desire to treat people with kindness, there are medical reasons for creating more dementia-friendly spaces. Many European countries have a problem with over- prescribing or prescribing inappropriate drugs to people with dementia, particularly anti-psychotic drugs. They remain in use because they’re seen as the best way to manage the difficult behaviour that comes with dementia: aggression, shouting, wandering and so on. What if this behaviour could be managed better through more dementia-friendly spaces? There is hard evidence to show that when people with dementia feel in control of their environment and perceived threats are removed, the problematic behaviour is drastically reduced.
Nobody is stating that interior design will stop all of the challenges posed by living with dementia, but when a space is designed with people’s specific needs in mind, along with knowledge of how they perceive the world, a lot of the stressors can be removed. The ultimate goal of all dementia- friendly design is to enable people with dementia to live the fullest possible lives.
https://professionals.tarkett.co.uk CARE HOMES | 25
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