Introducing changes to eyesight in people living with dementia
Living with dementia brings a multitude of challenges, and one aspect that often gets overlooked is the way a person's vision can alter.
As you navigate these changes, it's key to adapt your home environment to maintain as much independence and quality of life as possible for your loved one.
Changes in vision for those with dementia extend beyond clarity. They include alterations in depth perception, contrast sensitivity, and field of vision, all of which influence daily activities.
Creating a supportive home environment involves small but significant modifications. Simple steps like ensuring plenty of light and contrast can make a big difference.
Bright, consistent lighting reduces shadows and illusions that can cause confusion, while high contrast items and color-coded spaces can help define areas more clearly. These adjustments not only boost independence for the person with dementia but also contribute to their sense of security and comfort.
Remember, each person with dementia is unique, and so are the ways their vision might change. By paying close attention to these alterations and responding with thoughtful changes around the house, you support their ability to navigate their environment. It's about increasing their ability to engage with their surroundings and ensuring they feel at home, safe, and as independent as possible.
Understanding dementia and vision changes
When your loved one is living with dementia, they may face notable changes in how they see the world. Vision impairments can affect their sense of direction and potentially lead to disorientation.
Recognizing the impact of dementia on vision
Dementia can have a profound effect on how a person processes and interprets visual information. It's not just about how clear their sight is. The brain's ability to make sense of what the eyes see may decline, disrupting their orientation in familiar places. This can mean trouble with depth perception or distinguishing contrasts. If you notice your relative having difficulty navigating their space or misjudging distances, it's a sign that dementia is affecting their vision.
Common vision impairments associated with dementia
People with dementia might experience several types of vision impairments:
Visual agnosia: recognizing faces or objects becomes harder.
Depth perception problems: difficulty judging distances, leading to falls.
Colour perception: difficulty distinguishing colours, particularly in the blue-violet range.
Field cuts: losing part of the usual field of vision, which may cause a person with dementia to bump into objects or miss seeing things on one side.
These changes can increase the risk of disorientation and accidents, which is why it's crucial to create a supportive home environment that accommodates these vision changes.
Improving visibility and contrast
When adapting a home for someone living with dementia, increasing visibility and contrast is crucial. This can make spaces easier to navigate and help maintain safety and comfort.
Increase colour contrast:
Choose high contrast colours for critical features such as door frames, light switches, and furniture. For instance, a light switch on a dark wall stands out more prominently, making it easier for someone with dementia to locate it. In the bedroom, having bedding that contrasts with the floor can help distinguish the bed's location, enhancing both safety and independence.
Clear pathways:
Ensure pathways are well-lit and free from obstacles. By using bold, contrasted striping along the edges of steps or thresholds, you can provide clear visual cues. In your bathroom, consider contrasting colours for the toilet seat against the toilet to simplify location identification.
Simplifying patterns:
Opt for simple patterns or solid colours in home furnishings to reduce visual confusion. Avoid busy patterns that can cause disorientation, ensuring the furniture stands out against the floor and walls. For example, a solid coloured chair with a distinct hue against a neutral floor makes it a recognizable object in a dementia-friendly home.
Some pattern like large swirls can be misinterpreted as snakes or flames causing anxiety. While artwork with animals could be perceived as dangerous. It’s important to pay attention and carefully observe reoccurring behaviours or reactions in certain areas of the house.
Lighting adjustments
Proper lighting is crucial when you're adapting your home for vision changes due to dementia. Adequate lighting can reduce the risk of falls and improve orientation.
Even and natural lighting
Ensure each room is evenly lit to minimize shadows and glare, which can cause confusion or fear. Large windows and skylights invite natural light, which is
generally less harsh on the eyes. Soft sheer curtains can help distribute the light without causing sharp contrasts.
Aim to paint your walls with light, reflective colours to enhance the natural lighting effect. Assess your floor and bench top surfaces as a gloss finish can cause glare or may be viewed as wet.
Task lighting
In areas where you perform specific tasks, such as kitchen counters or reading nooks, install task lighting. These lights should be easy to turn on and off, and bright enough to illuminate the work area without creating a harsh glare.
Go for led bulbs as they offer bright light that's closer to natural daylight. Ideally the light bulb is not visible and point down.
Night lights
To navigate safely at night, use night lights in hallways, bedrooms, and bathrooms. These lights should emit a soft glow, enough to guide you without disrupting sleep. Motion-activated models can be particularly helpful, lighting the way automatically as you move.
Safety and orientation
When you've got a family member with dementia at home, making sure the space is safe and easy to navigate becomes necessary. Sharp kitchen gadgets, unstable furniture, and poor lighting can all be hazards.
So, let's talk about setting up your home to minimize risks and help your loved one feel secure.
Visual cues for orientation
Place large pictures or icons near room entrances to help identify them, like a bowl for the kitchen or a bed for the bedroom. Ensure these are at eye level and use contrasting colours for clarity. These visual cues can be a big comfort during sundowning when confusion can peak.
Kitchen: 🍲
Bedroom: 🛏️
Bathroom: 🚿
Labelling
Clear labels on appliances and cabinets can go a long way. Use large, bold print on bright, non-glare paper for things like the microwave or snack drawers. This helps with decision making and reduces frustration.
Microwave: start | 30 seconds | stop
Cabinet: snacks | cups | plates
Outline potential hazards such as sharp edges or steps with reflective tape. It's a simple way to highlight areas that require extra caution, especially in low-light conditions, preventing trips and falls.
Step edges: ↔️ reflective tape
Furniture corners: ⇄ tape
Remember, safety features are not just add-ons; they're integral to dementia care and can significantly reduce the risk of injuries in your home.
Question: How does dementia affect vision?
Answer: Dementia can impact vision in several ways beyond the normal aging process of the eye. It may affect visual perception, making it difficult for individuals to recognize faces, understand spatial relationships, or detect patterns. Visual decline in dementia isn't just about the ability to see clearly but also involves how the brain processes what the eyes see.
Question: What are some common visual problems experienced by dementia patients?
Answer: Individuals with dementia might experience a range of visual problems, including difficulty recognizing objects or faces, problems with depth judgment, increased sensitivity to light or difficulty adjusting to changes in light levels, and challenges in navigating spaces due to impaired spatial awareness.
Question: How can I make the home environment safer for a person with dementia experiencing visual decline?
Answer: Making the home environment safer involves several strategies: improving lighting, reducing clutter, using high contrast colours for important objects and areas to improve visibility, removing rugs and tripping hazards, and installing night lights to aid nighttime navigation. Each of these changes aims to reduce confusion and the risk of falls.
Question: Are there any specific colours that are best for dementia patients with visual decline?
Answer: While individual preferences can vary, generally, using bold and contrasting colours can help. For example, using a brightly coloured toilet seat on a white toilet can help individuals distinguish it more easily. Avoid patterns that can cause visual confusion and opt for solid colours for walls, floors, fabrics and furnishings.
Question: Can visual aids help dementia patients with eyesight decline, and if so, which ones are recommended?
Answer: Yes, visual aids can be quite helpful. Magnifiers, large-print books, and devices with large buttons and clear displays (e.g., clocks, phones) can assist in daily tasks. Adaptive technologies like talking watches or devices with voice commands can also support independence. It's important to consider the individual's comfort and familiarity with these aids and gradually introduce them as needed.
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