"Caring for Loved Ones with Dementia: 5 Easy Strategies to Minimize Falls and Foster Independence"

As an occupational therapist, falls are the #1 reason why people end up in the nursing home. At Dementia Masters I teach how to adapt your environment, approach, communication style, and activities to meet the needs of your loved one with dementia. I help people and their families discover effective techniques to prevent challenging behaviors and reduce stress in daily routines, including ways to prevent falls and foster independence in people with dementia. These tips are not just for people with dementia, it is for everyone to keep in mind if someone has poor vision, difficulty walking, or is elderly.

In this blog, you will discover 5 essential tips for keeping your loved one safe in their own environment, reducing falls, reducing agitation, and promoting independence.

Tip 1: Declutter

One of the easiest ways to make a space dementia friendly is to get rid of the clutter and clear the walkways around areas where your loved one is walking through each day. You can do this as a project with your loved one, getting a box and finding things that may not be needed, and/or items that can be put in a better spot. The more things that are around the more distracted someone can get when walking around. this is also important to make room for a walker and prevent the walker from getting snagged by something. There may come a time when your loved one and another person assisting with walking will need enough room. Believe me, when I go to people's houses for home health, and the two of us can't get from the bedroom to the kitchen it becomes difficult. Less is more

Tip 2: Ditch the throw rugs

People love their throw and scatter rugs but they are a terrible tripping hazard, especially for people living with dementia. people with dementia as well as other elderly people can have difficulty with eyesight, as well as poor ability to lift their feet while walking, this can cause your loved one to trip over the rug. When someone has a walker and they are pushing down, the throw rugs can start rolling up from the two front wheels of the walker, without your loved one even realizing it, because their feet are not wrapped up in it. The walker will tip forward and so will your loved one. I have seen many people admitted to nursing homes with hip fractures due to this.

With dementia, some people have good vision but because of the damage to the brain, they may be seeing dark items as shadows and are able to remember this item is a rug. A dark-colored rug may be seen as a hole in the ground, and your loved one will try to walk around it. Yes, there is rug tape, it has been used if someone desperately wants to keep the rug, but the best thing you can do is to get rid of it.

Tip 3: Use contrasting colors

Try to use contrasting colors. With dementia and other vision problems, it can be difficult to see the difference between items. Say the white toilet, with the white floor and the white trash can. Your loved one may not be able to see the exact spot to use the toilet. Same with a white tub, having a red mat in the tub will help your loved one differentiate between where the tub is and where the floor is. Same with eating. Having a red plate vs. a white plate on a white tablecloth and mashed potatoes they may end up limiting the amount they are eating because they can't see it all. Or they keep scrapping the wrong part of the plate for more food. Another place to put contrasting tape is on each step hot pink duct tape or red depending on the color of the steps allows for your loved one to see the different steps vs. them all blending in. Having contrasting colors will improve your loved one's ability to identify food/drink, locate objects, and distinguish thresholds. The goal is to improve your loved one's overall safety and ability to feel comfortable moving around their own environment.

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Tip 4: Improve Lighting

As I said earlier as we age or with dementia our eyesight can play tricks on us. Improving the lighting in the house to reduce shadows can have a huge impact on someone with dementia. Dementia can cause people to not be able to determine what is real and not real. With poor lighting, shadows can take over and be seen as real. Think of a little child and they are not sure if the shadows in the room are real or not, you keep the light on to keep them from being afraid of the unknown. I had a woman who kept talking about a child in the corner visiting her. For the longest time, I just blew it off, but I realized she had said it only arrived after dinner. After dinner, her room didn't get any sun and had a shadow in the corner.

I placed a small table and a light there and the child had "gone away". Besides shadows, glare can really have an effect. I know I have to close my eyes from the glare of the TV or close the shade when the sun is directly in my eyes. My brain is sensitive to light, causing headaches and agitation. This too can happen to people with dementia, who may not be able to speak up and say they are distracted or annoyed by the glare. It is important to use as much natural light as possible and keep lighting up during mid-afternoon to limit "sundowning". There are daylight light bulbs and a remote control for turning on the lights.

Using motion sensing lights or night lights at night can be helpful in the bathroom and in any area someone is walking.

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Tip 5: Use labels & signs as much as you can

Signs and labels are key to helping your loved one find things without having to ask where everything is. This helps reduce agitation and frustration. If someone with dementia has a hard time remembering where things are, it will take them more time to get dressed or find the bathroom. Label doors, drawers, dressers, cabinets, water faucet knobs, and anything else your loved one interacts with. Labels can help someone map out what room is what. Sometimes we find our loved ones in our room or the kid's room, it may not be that they are snooping it may be because they are lost and not sure where their room is. With the labels make sure they are white with bold black lettering. Again with the contrasting colors, you do not want any distractions on the picture/label.

Download free signs made for the house

Below is a video about my personal story of dementia behaviors and the use of signs.

Are you having difficulty understanding how to help your loved one with dementia?

I am Rebecca, an Occupational Therapist. I have created a program Dementia Masters. I know personally and professionally the difficulties of dementia. I provide personalized training, on understanding dementia. Do you want to learn how to Predict a behavior, Provide support, and Prevent challenging behaviors from starting?

I teach how to adapt your environment, approach, communication style, and activities to meet the needs of your loved one with dementia. I help people and their families discover effective techniques to prevent challenging behaviors and reduce stress in daily routines. You can message me, email me, join my newsletter for more tips and tricks, and check out my website www.dementiamasters.com

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