Murals
inside a house and flowers around the outside of the house.
Nature scenes are likely to promote
wellbeing for most people, but it will again be important to consider what kind of nature might be relevant and interesting to individuals living in the home – forests, mountains, lakes, or beach scenes. When talking to Anita, the artist at St Brendan’s, I encouraged her to include some ‘live’ elements to her landscape, such as a dog running beside the lake, a woman pushing a pram, or some children playing in a park. These can literally bring the landscape to life and are more likely to prompt a conversation: “Did you used to walk your dog near the lake?”; “What games did you play outside as a child?” etc. Murals of shopfronts are popular in some of our Butterfly Homes. While these do not really convey a sense of ‘home’, they do offer a feeling of a destination or a sense of going out for those who spend long periods inside. It is important to place some ‘real’ objects to engage with close to these murals, for example some fresh fruit in a basket near a fruit store mural, or a clothes rail with dresses, shirts, scarves etc near a fashion shop scene. This gives a more interactive and sensory element than just the ‘flat’ picture.4
Appetising food-related murals in dining areas can cue everyone in to eating and help promote our appetite. We will still need to be aware that food preferences are varied, so imagine if it was something you disliked or were allergic to greeting you on the walls of the dining room – or something that you wanted and then it was not on the menu!
Regrettably, there seems to be little
published research on this topic. However, some writers assert that we already know a lot through what has been tried and tested.5 There have been some critiques of murals which are ‘hyperreal’ – also known as trompe l’oeil – which are meant to deceive the eye. People living with dementia already often face perceptual and spatial awareness difficulties, so these could further confuse or unsettle people.6 Decals of bookshelves/libraries are
Medication trolley sweets
Truth or lies? What about murals placed on objects which are pretending to be something which they are not? We encourage care homes following the Butterfly Approach to disguise their medicine or housekeeping carts with something more fun and colourful. Some have found some creative wraps or decals to do this well, including pictures of post boxes, flowers, and birds, and the sweetshop featured above. It is certainly less institutional looking, but some might argue that this involves an element of deception on a medicine trolley/cart (even if some of us will remember the Mary Poppins song that ‘A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down … in a most delightful way’!).
often used to disguise an exit door, but do we consider how frustrating and confusing it might be to reach for a book and for it to be just a picture? Others would argue in their defence that the titles and authors on the book spines would themselves provoke positive memories and discussions, and they will be helpful in distracting someone from wanting to leave. However, it would make much more sense to have a library mural in a reading nook area with a side table, lamp, and actual books chosen with some consultation as to the reading preferences of people living in the home. There is an increasing focus in design in relation to dementia specialist elements, which might enhance our understanding of what works best for people and offers more freedom of movement, particularly in ‘secure’ environments where people understandably feel frustrated and trapped.7
The current thinking around
disguise of exits suggests merging the colours and pattern of the walls with the elevator or door, so they become hidden, rather than making them a feature or destination, as they are in the example overleaf.
In one home I remember seeing a
mural of a stable door, with a very life-like photograph of a horse looking over the door. When I looked closer, there were lots of stains of porridge near the mouth of the horse, where people had obviously been feeding him. When I asked the home manager, she said the horse was a much- loved character in the home, so arguably this ‘deception’ had generated a great deal of pleasure. This is not dissimilar to the use of dolls, which can become very real babies in the reality of some people living with dementia.
Coorheen Butterfly Home, St Brendan’s CNU, Loughrea, Ireland May 2024
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
A pretend window view in a bathroom with no window is another debatable feature. Will the view of the outside hills and the sunshine make the bathtime experience more pleasurable or will it be disorientating? Most anecdotal evidence
29
Siobhan Treacy and transition year students, St Brigid’s College
Belmont House, Butterfly Lane, Toronto, Canada
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