People with dementia experience many changes, including memory loss, impaired judgment, loss of decision making ability and various other behavioral changes. With the progression of the disease your loved one with dementia will lose the ability to look after the house and after some time, the living environment may become disorganized and cluttered.
Various studies tell us that clutter causes anxiety. It presents challenges for people with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia. People with dementia are easily confused in the middle stage of the disease, and they want possessions to be kept where they can see them.
Unfortunately, the very possessions that give or used to give them comfort may be creating a kind of visual mess that makes it even more difficult to understand the world around them.
A recent joint study from Georgia Tech University and the University of Toronto found that people with early stage Alzheimer’s have trouble distinguishing multiple objects. For example, they were unable to identify two slightly different photos of an apple.
When clutter is out of control, it has the potential to be hazardous for people with memory impairment. It can impact them in the following ways –
Decluttering is not easy and may take up some time and more of patience. Your loved one may not like you taking away their things but one should always consider it is for their own good.
Tips to help in decluttering
1) Set your priorities.
Is your main goal to keep your loved one happy, safe, or comfortable? They might not appreciate it but their safety is your main priority and for their own good.
2) Plan it early
If your elderly loved one is in the initial stage of dementia, you can engage him or her in sorting and decluttering their place. They can share their memories related to it and it will also help them absorb the change.
3) Move rather than remove
Your loved one may not like seeing their things missing from the place they had kept and may become angry or anxious. But you need to improve safety by moving them to a new location, calming their anxiety by showing them where their treasured possessions have gone.
4) Labelling can help
People with dementia get easily distracted and confused; one of the basic symptoms of dementia is forgetfulness. After progressing further in their disease your loved one will forget where their things are kept which often leads to increase in anxiety level. Label drawers, doors, etc. with the picture of content or use. For instance, hang a photo of sofa on the living room door or picture of socks on the socks drawer.
5) Designate places in the house for particular things
This will help them set a habit of finding one thing at that place always. A key bowl for all the keys, a jar for all the coins, one particular corner for all their footwear, etc.
6) Eliminate unnecessary noise
Take it as a part of decluttering, more like decluttering the audio space. You still have the capacity to tune out unimportant background noises and focus on the one you have to process but your loved one with dementia may not and can get easily confused and restless with many voices or loud noises around them.
7) Work on lightning
To compensate for the age related visual loss and the additional confusions you need to work with the lightning as well. Even after decluttering and sorting the important things, there should be enough lightning for your loved one with dementia to differentiate between things.
8) Provide visual stimulation through photographs
Hanging photographs on the walls of a room or hallway can be a good idea. It can provide them with memories and give you both things to discuss. But a contained place is preferable since you can avoid them depending upon the mood of your loved one.
Many possible modifications and adjustments can be done to help your elderly loved one with dementia. Decluttering is one step towards ensuring their safety and reducing their confusion.
We at Samvedna Care aim to help seniors live happy, active and independent lives, in the comfort of their home and community through interactive caregiving.
Samvedna Care was established in October 2013 with two complementary goals – firstly to provide quality home care services to seniors with limited mobility or dementia and hence social interaction, and secondly to facilitate stimulating community interaction and participation.
Our Dementia Care services are –
At-home services –
Dementia intervention activities by trained Care Specialists (already mentioned above). These services are available in Delhi NCR and Guwahati
More – Dementia Care
Please call us for more info – Delhi NCR – 98184 21446, 124 4229659 | Guwahati – 9864015872
Dementia Support Group –
Our Dementia Support group in Delhi NCR and Guwahati is a platform for caregivers to share feelings and support each other.
Please call us for more info – Delhi NCR – 98184 21446, 124 4229659 | Guwahati – 9864015872
Cognitive Wellness Programme, Sector 57 Gurgaon –
Samvedna’s Cognitive Wellness Programme is designed for seniors with mild cognitive impairment, early dementia or Parkinson’s, and elderly lacking in enthusiasm and motivation. The aim is to stimulate the mind of the elderly to slow the progression of the disease or impairment. The sessions are 3 days a week, 11AM-1PM.
Samvedna Care, G-7 Oriental Villas, Sushant Lok III, Sector 57, Gurgaon
Samvedna Care, C-13 Anand Niketan, New Delhi
+91 74280 97301
