making your clinic dementia friendly...make your clinic with our brief guide to: a dementia friendly...
TRANSCRIPT
DEMENTIA FRIENDLY
MAKING YOUR CLINIC
10:45
CLOCKSREADING MATERIAL
INFORMATIONCHAIRS & FURNITURE
MIRRORS LIGHTING SIGNAGE
DECOR SOUND BOOTHS
DEMENTIA FRIENDLY
MAKE YOUR CLINIC
WITH OUR BRIEF GUIDE TO:
A dementia friendly clock showing the day and date helps and takes the stress out of remembering what day of the week its is.
Orienting to time and space can be difficult for people with dementia.
Therefore, any clues and tips to help establish the date and time are
very useful and can help promote independence.
Reading a clock face and calendar may become challenging. As memory
and planning can be affected in dementia, using prompts such as writing
things down and using a calendar to remind them of appointments, are
very helpful and help the person to remain independent. However, it can
be difficult to remember which day of the week it actually is.
The digital format can also be beneficial for individuals who have
difficulty reading the time from a traditional clock.
CLOCKS
TIP: Clocks can promote independence as a reminder of the day, date & time.
10:45
Promoting a calming environment can help relax people with dementia, and therefore too many signs and things to read can be
distressing. However, provide things for patients and their families to do and look at in waiting areas can stimulate conversations
and be relaxing. e.g. dementia friendly books, pictures of local area
TIP: Avoid posters or signs that are not essential for patients for this clinic to avoid
information overload.Providing dementia friendly books can be
stimulating and relax people with dementia in waiting areas.
READING
Often, the general public don’t understand the overlaps between
hearing loss and dementia.
Although too much information and clutter can be distressing for
people with dementia, the is a great opportunity to offer support
materials for people with dementia and their families to understand
the importance of hearing loss and dementia, how they link together
and how one may specifically affect the other.
TIP: Provide families with information to help understand and support the person
with dementia to engage and manage with hearing rehabilitation.
INFO.
TIP: Have contrasting chairs to the rest of the room.
As people with dementia may have visuoperceptual problems as well as
poorer eyesight, it is important that there is a contrast between the colour of the
chairs and the colour of the flooring / walls. As everyone is different, it is important to
offer sturdy chairs of different types to suit different needs.
CHAIRS
TIP: Have contrasting chairs to the rest of the room.
TIP: Avoid fixed mirrors in waiting and clinic areas as you don’t know how the person with
dementia may react to mirrors.
Mirrors can be a source of distress for some people with dementia.
They may not recognise themselves in the mirror and become scared, or worried that
someone else is in the room with them looking at them. If mirrors are used for
fittings, please check this is appropriate.
MIRRORS?
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TIP: Make use of natural light.Ensure good levels of artificial light.
Do not block windows but use blinds to manage glare.
LIGHTING
Natural light is very important for people with dementia for many reasons.
Firstly, access to natural light helps to maintain natural circadian
rhythms. Circadian disruption can occur in dementia, which is
associated with increased levels of depression, sleep disruption,
and agitated behaviours. Secondly, can help prevent falls, identify
signs and enable people to move about more easily. Thirdly, for
people with hearing loss and dementia, good light is especially
important for communication and lip-reading.
TIP: Signs should be: Low enough so don’t have to look up
(recommended base of the sign 1.2m above floor level – dementia design centre)
Easy to understandInclude some pictorial information with words
Colour contrast with background so they are obvious to see
SIGNAGE
People with dementia may become very easily disorientated for
many reasons including visual perceptual problems and lack of
short-term memory. Even if someone has been to the clinic before
they may not remember and may need directional prompts.
It is important to have adequate signage for people so they can
easily find their way IN and OUT of places.
DECORRugs and carpets can make a clinical space feel more homely
which can relax patients during their appointments. However,
people with dementia may have visuoperceptual problems where
the way they see things can appear differently. For this reason it is
advisable to keep patterns neutral and avoid anything highly patterned
materials that may appear as something else. For example swirling
patterns could look like they are moving or something else like snakes.
Rugs are good to protect carpets but if they are a different colour to
the carpet or floor underneath them they may appear as something
else. For example, a grey carpet with a black mat may appear as a
step or a hole. Therefore, it is advised to keep a consistent tone
of flooring throughout the space, including threshold strips, so
people can clearly identify the walkways.
TIP: Keep patterns neutral. Match rugs similar to flooring (low contrast flooring).
Contrast floor and wall colours.
TIP: Keep patterns neutral. Match rugs similar to flooring (low contrast flooring).
Contrast floor and wall colours.
BOOTHS
TIP: If possible, use a sound-proof room rather than a booth.
If using a booth, use a large (paediatric) booth so that care-partner can go in
with the person.
For someone with dementia, the whole process of getting to the clinic may be
daunting and they may be apprehensive about the appointment even if they have
been to audiology before.
Therefore, putting someone in a booth on their own may cause them to feel
frightened and trapped.