Dot and a Dementia Friendly House

I want to tell you about Dot, a lovely lady who lived with dementia for many years. Overall, she had a contented life but faced a few challenges. Her family lived relatively nearby and did what they could do to support her as best they could, always with the best intentions.

Dot was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease when she was living by herself in her terraced house, popping out to the shop occasionally and mostly looking after herself fairly well. Her family noticed a few things that were making her uncomfortable in her house. They sought some expert advice and made the following changes:

• Removed the big mirror from the end of the entrance hall - the reflection could be confusing and frightening when Dot entered the house.

• Replaced the patterned carpet in the living room for one with a plain colour, Dot had been hesitant to walk over the patterned carpet as it was confusing.
• Decluttered the kitchen, removing much of what Dot did not use on a regular basis. This made it much easier for Dot to find what she needed on a daily basis.

These changes did improve things and it wasn’t until a year later the family decided it would be much easier to support Dot if she was closer to them, so they arranged for her to move into a flat just up the road from them.

Unfortunately, although they were able to see her every day, Dot could not get to grips with the new surroundings. She was not able to go out on her own anymore as she could not find her way back to her new flat and she often struggled to find her way around her flat. It was at this point that the family arranged for some regular caregivers to support Dot.

When Dot was finding eating a challenge her family got some input from their care provider and changed Dot’s eating pattern. They bought her red plates to help make the food stand out better and tried to make sure the food had a good contrast on the plate. They also made a point of eating with her when they could, this did significantly improve her eating.

Around the same time Dot had had a close call with her cooker, she had left the gas on overnight. To avoid the risk of this happening again her family replaced the gas cooker with a new induction hob. Although this did prevent the risk of Dot leaving the gas on, she could never remember how to use the new hob so this meant that she was not able to cook on her own any more. However, with the support of her carers who visited every day she could keep on being involved in cooking her own meals.

‘Dot’ is actually a mix of clients I have worked with but the scenarios I have shared are very typical of those I am often asked to advise on by concerned relatives. There is no one single change that can be made to a house to make it easier for someone living with dementia. Solutions vary significantly from one person to another so I hope that Dot’s story gives you some insight into the sort of things that could help but also the unintended consequences that may arise with changes.

The reason that some changes may be beneficial is because of the impact dementia has on our brains. This can cause confusion and changes in our perception. Basically, any changes made should aim to simplify things to reduce the risk of misunderstanding or confusion.

Alastair Shanks, Owner Right at Home and Dementia Friends Champion