Home Safety Devices For Dementia Patients – A person with dementia may forget where they are, where things are, and how they work due to memory loss, confusion, and difficulty in learning new things.
Even though it’s not a good idea to make big changes to the house overnight, there are some easy things you can do to help a person with dementia continue to live independently at home such as:
- Assessment of needs
If the person with dementia has not already done so, your local council should conduct a needs assessment. You may be referred for a separate home assessment if it appears that you require modifications, such as grab bars in the bathroom.
- Better lighting
Better lighting can help seniors and most people with dementia avoid confusion and reduce their risk of falling in their homes.
Try to minimize shadows, reflections, and glare.
Bright, uniform, and natural lighting should be used. During the day, you can get more sunlight by making sure:
- The curtains are open;
- There are no unnecessary blinds or nets blocking the windows;
- Hedges and trees should be cut back if they block sunlight.
Lighting is especially important on the stairs and in the bathroom. Light switches ought to be simple to operate and reach.
A useful addition might be automatic light sensors. When someone walks by the sensor, the lights turn on by themselves.
To aid in sleep, it is also essential to ensure that the bedroom can be darkened at night.
Since dementia is more common in older people, regular eye exams are essential for identifying and treating any issues.
- Lessen commotion
When you walk across a room with vinyl or laminate flooring, it can be very noisy. These sounds will be magnified which can be uncomfortable, if the person with dementia wears a hearing aid.
If no one is paying attention, turn off the television or radio to cut down on background noise. Even if the person with dementia wears hearing aids, it’s still important to have regular hearing checks.
- Safer flooring
Avoid placing rugs or mats on the floor because some people with dementia may become confused and believe that they must step over the rug or mat, resulting in trips or falls. Avoid flooring that is shiny or reflective because it may appear to be wet to the person with dementia, making it difficult for them to walk on it.
The best deck to pick is matt and in a variety that differentiations with the walls. Avoiding colors that look like real things, like green (grass) or blue (water), might be helpful.
- Contrasting colors
A person’s ability to distinguish between colors can be affected by dementia. Choose:
- Contrasting colors on the walls and floors;
- Furniture and furnishings in bright or bold colors that contrast with the walls and floors, such as beds, tables, and chairs;
- Contrasting colors for the doors and banisters to make them stand out;
- A toilet seat that is a different color from the rest of the bathroom;
- Crockery that is different colors from the tablecloth or table to help define the edges of dishes.
Mirrors should be covered or removed if they are likely to confuse a person with dementia because reflections can be troubling. If they do not recognize themselves, they might be upset. Likewise, it can assist with shutting the shades at night so they can’t see their appearance in the window glass.
Someone can get around with the help of labels and signs. For example, a toilet sign on the door to the bathroom or the toilet can be helpful.
Signs should be clear, have appropriate words and a picture that contrasts with the background; be positioned slightly lower than usual because older people tend to look down. It may also be helpful to put pictures on drawers and cabinets to show what’s inside them. You could, for instance, hang a picture of cups on the cabinet that holds these items.
Alternately, a person with dementia can benefit greatly from seeing what’s inside with see-through cabinet doors.
10 Home Safety Devices for Dementia Patients
There are different advancements accessible to help your senior with dementia around the home and stay free for longer. They are:
- Personal Alarms – With these tiny pendants that can be worn anywhere, at any time, seven days a week, help is just a press away. Lively alert device personal alarms communicate with a central hub next to your parents’ landline to notify you, a close designated contact, or a monitoring team. This makes it possible for you to speak directly with your parents, determine what’s wrong, and get them the right care quickly. If someone has fallen and is unable to get up on their own, these are extremely helpful.
- Telecare Systems: Personal alarms are frequently incorporated into telecare monitoring systems, which use sensors all over the house to monitor digital activity. Telecare monitoring systems, like sensor burglar alarms and automobile alarms, only sound the alarm when something is wrong or unusual is detected.
A 24-hour surveillance team (or you through an app) is notified, for instance, if the patient does not get out of bed in the morning or close the front door, and a neighbor may be called to check on them.
- Home Security: There are a lot of little gadgets that can make living in the house a little safer and better, and most of them are pretty cheap! Smart locks and doorbells can help homeowners improve the security of their homes while also letting you closely monitor them and any visitors. The patient will be able to live a longer life thanks to smart lighting, specialized fire and smoke alarms, and water overflow sensors.
- GPS trackers, like personal alarm clocks, are designed to be worn on the body and do exactly what you tell them to. For instance, in the event that the patient is not noting calls or has not gotten back in some time, you might utilize these dandies and wristbands to find out where they are. If you are taking care of a person with dementia who is prone to wandering, GPS trackers are an excellent and inexpensive option.
- Communicating with others is important for maintaining one’s quality of life in memory care. Research shows that people with dementia may remember how they felt after an event, even though they cannot remember names or faces. Additionally, staying in touch with loved ones has never been easier thanks to advancements in technology.
For seniors who may be experiencing difficulties communicating, there are options for assistive devices. Seniors can benefit from adaptable mobile phones for staying in touch with friends and family, reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation that are all too common among the elderly. Discourse producing gadgets can help individuals with discourse disabilities.
- Memory aids: For many people, forgetfulness is a normal part of getting older and doesn’t always mean they have dementia. The good news is that a variety of assistive technology is available to help your loved ones remember to take their medications, feed their pets, and remember their possessions. A number of different technologies, including memorization prompts, automatic pill dispensers, and others, can all help alleviate the stress of trying to remember everything in daily life.
- Screen Readers and Visual Aids: Our loved ones shouldn’t be prevented from using some of the best technology available today, like cellphones and computers, because they are blind. To navigate these devices, blind or visually impaired individuals can use assistive technology. It reads resoundingly what is on the screen of PCs, cell phones, and tablets, permitting the outwardly debilitated to move about the gadget, pick resulting activities, and interface with the web.
- Home security cameras are yet another fantastic way to remotely monitor the safety of a loved one. You will be able to ensure that your loved one is active and taking their medication by keeping a camera in the main room or fixed on the medicine. Some gadgets let you talk to your loved one while also keeping an eye on them and alerting you if they don’t move for a while.
- Voice Reminders: Caregivers can personalize reminders for their loved ones using voice reminder devices. While some voice-controlled technology uses a motion sensor, others allow caregivers to program the reminder(s) to play at a predetermined time.
Since caregivers can pre-record a speech that warns a loved one not to leave the house at night as they approach the door, motion-detecting devices can be useful for those who are prone to wandering.
A conservative computerized recorder, for example, a note pen or one that can be worn around the neck, might be helpful for individuals living with dementia who simply have slight memory challenges. This kind of technology lets people record messages for themselves and listen to them later. You can find a voice alarm reminder here.
- Automatic Pill Dispenser: When it’s time to take a medicine, a number of automatic pill dispensers can easily be set up to buzz, blink lights, or give a signal to dispense the right amount into a dosing cup. There are also dispensers with voice prompts taped to them, so you can be the one to explain exactly what is being given and why, lessening the anxiety associated with taking medicines.
Pill dispensers that cost more and can be remotely monitored by caregivers may become necessary as dementia progresses. They will even notify caregivers if a medication is missed.
