Dementia care


Consult, consult, consult. Everything will work better with the involvement of all interested parties - families, staff and, of course, residents. People who are involved will care more. It can be very enlightening watching how people react to choosing images. If they are the right ones, nothing will be said about the images themselves, they will be too busy reminiscing about their experiences. When it comes to use of colour, be it for décor, doors, signs etc, do not take the undignified primary colour route. You would not paint your own home bright yellow so why would you inflict that on someone else? We used to be told that was the right thing to do but things have moved on.


The key to getting this right is to use Light Reflectance Values. The paint companies will provide this information and the simple rule of thumb is as follows: to achieve a suitable contrast between adjacent colours, ensure the LRV is 30 per cent different between them.


Taking this route provides for a flexible and very useable colour palate that can be used throughout a home. It is very supportive of anyone with impaired vision and will positively contribute to a variety of benefits.


As it is currently quite uncommon, investing in a meaningful environment still needs early-adopters, as it requires something of a leap of faith and it will create a very different look to that we are used to. Yet these things need to happen, and the sooner care homes grasp the opportunities the environment has to offer, the sooner everyone will benefit from them.


I wish I could be optimistic this will happen soon. In the 1980s, person- centred care pioneer Tom Kitwood was writing about the relationship between dementia and the environment. Professor Dawn Brooker of the Association for Dementia Studies and others have since continued this. Yet for all the academic support for meaningful environments, they are seen all too seldom.


If you seriously want to create an effective, supportive environment, here is the killer question to ask before you spend a penny: will the environment reflect the residents’ personhood and geographical identity? If the answer is no, go back to the drawing board.


I can speak from experience when I say that filling the environment with images and destination points that are relevant to the era, life experiences and geographical identity of residents delivers exceptional benefits across the board.


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Filling the environment with images and destination points that are relevant to the era, life experiences and geographical identity of residents delivers exceptional benefits


Consider the following scenario. Imagine you have lived in the locality for a large part of your adult life and perhaps been close to family members and interactive with the community. When you move into your new home that is shiny and lovely but has no references to its locality, how will it make you feel? Not great. Scared, disorientated? Of course! You are suddenly living somewhere that has no connection with anything that has been the basis of your daily life for many years. In most cases, moving home will not have been a voluntary process either, adding further to the upheaval.


I hope you are reading this and thinking 'That’s obvious!’. Yes it is obvious, but hardly anyone pays any attention to it at all.


Should you be in the fortunate and unusual circumstance where your care provider has taken the trouble to invest in a content-rich environment, where your surroundings connect you to the locality you know and love, and stimulate memories of where you worked/lived/ played football/cycled with your mates, you are going to be a lot happier. I am using the word ‘happy’ to simply encompass a raft of complex issues that go together to determine an individual’s wellbeing of course. But the net result is health, happiness, dignity and quality of life.


Conclusion


The care environment is not somewhere that can deliver its potential with a cursory coat of paint. It deserves as much attention as every other aspect of the home. Some operators spend a lot of money on interior design but not for the residents benefit.


More likely it is driven by how


attractive it can be to prospective clients, which is a very different proposition to what it is like to be resident there. Admittedly, I have never operated a home, but I will bet the greatest attraction for prospective clients will be the feel of a thriving community filled with active, happy people that reflects residents’ personhood and geographical identity.


Peter Rose


Peter Rose is director of The Care Home Designer. Peter has been designing products for dementia care since 2007 when he became involved in the sector through Bupa. His CV covers innovations now commonplace in care facilities around the world. HIs aim is to create surroundings that reflect residents’ real life experiences to provide comfort and a sense of place, always with the respect and dignity seniors deserve. Peter’s passion for this is such that in January 2018 he walked away from a multi-discipline manufacturing business to establish The Care Home Designer.


www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • January 2021


It should not be an afterthought that giving the environment the attention it deserves. It is very supportive for staff too: a conscientiously created, content- rich environment will educate care staff about the area and background that has been woven through their residents’ lives, and greatly improve the quality of interactions.


None of this is rocket science and to be blunt, it is mainly common sense. Yet getting the environment right and elevating the importance of the home’s surroundings is guaranteed to improve outcomes.


TCHE


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