Making The Home Dementia-Friendly - DementiaHub.SG

Making The Home Dementia-Friendly

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Persons living with dementia may face challenges navigating the physical environment, due to loss of orientation, sensory acuity, visual-spatial awareness, and mobility.  Changes in their sensory system may reduce their tolerance towards environmental stimuli, such as sound levels, lighting, activity and people. For some persons living with dementia, the lack of sensory stimulation and occupational deprivation results in ill-being, leading to loss of self-worth and self-identity.

Experience Dementia in Singapore is a Virtual Reality (VR) application which provides one with the perspective of a person living with dementia. Experience the challenges a person living with dementia faces in a typical apartment in Singapore, and consider how the environment can be modified to support the well-being of the person living with dementia at home.

A dementia-friendly home aims to enable persons living with dementia to maintain their independence in performing everyday activities such as eating, going to the toilet, bathing, and continuing their hobbies in a meaningful way. Where possible the person living with dementia should be supported to engage in activities outdoors.

List of Resources for the Homes of Persons Living with Dementia

Local Resources

360° Virtual Reality Dementia-Friendly HDB Home Design Guide

The 360° Virtual Reality Dementia-Friendly HDB Home Design Guide is a resource developed by Agency for Integrated Care and Dementia Singapore, for persons living with dementia and their families, and care professionals in Singapore. It provides a range of proposed modifications to create a dementia-friendly home that is more accessible, comfortable and safer for persons living with dementia.

For the best viewing and user experience on this virtual reality guide, it is recommended to access it using a desktop.

HACK CARE

HACK CARE by LIEN Foundation is a catalogue of more than 240 pages of ideas to make a home a friendlier environment for persons living with dementia and their families. It assembles practical hacks, surprising ideas, and simple tips and tricks to simplify a caregiver’s life as they cope with the daily challenges of caregiving, while transforming them into meaningful and enriching moments.

Overseas Resources

Making Your Home Dementia-Friendly

The Alzheimer’s Society in the United Kingdom has developed a booklet which describes some of the ways to create a more dementia-inclusive home, to support persons living with dementia and their families.

The booklet comprises multiple sections, where each section covers a different aspect of living at home. Some of the tips offered by this booklet, may require help and support from care professionals as well. The sections include:

• Lighting
• Furniture and furnishings
• Flooring
• Eating and drinking
• Using the bathroom
• Knowing where things are
• Keeping things in order
• Keeping safe

The booklet contains a checklist that recommends some changes individuals can implement to make their homes more dementia-inclusive.

Safety In and Around the Home

This resource by Dementia Australia contains tips on how friends, family, and caregivers of persons living with dementia, can improve the safety of the physical environment in and around the home.

The page comprises a simple safety checklist for individuals to assess their homes for any safety hazards.

Guidelines on Dementia-Friendly Environments

These resources by the Social Care Institute for Excellence in the United Kingdom, contain information on how the physical environments of various aspects in and around a home can be designed to be more dementia-inclusive, such as:

• Kitchen and dining areas
• Bedrooms
• Toilets and bathrooms
• Gardens
• Lighting
• Assistive technology
• Noise levels

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