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Most of us don’t think about aging or developing physical limitations when we buy our first home. U.S. homebuyers first look for starter homes and plan to move about every 12.3 years, according to Redfin. With this trend, people don’t necessarily worry that houses are designed for the changing needs that aging can bring. However, about 6.9 million Americans aged 65 years and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease. There’s at least a 1 in 10 chance when you are 65 years old that you’ll develop Alzheimer’s in your lifetime—a sobering statistic.
In 2015, my dad was told he had Alzheimer’s. As a home designer who interviewed home experts on my home improvement radio show MyFixitUpLife, I searched for an Alzheimer’s home expert to interview so I could help my dad and others like him. There wasn’t such an expert, so I decided to try to fill the gap. I became a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist and color expert. I also connected with leading neurologists to learn how I could develop a way to create a more supportive and calm environment for my dad and others with Alzheimer’s disease.
The good news is that not every upgrade involves expensive aging-in-place remodeling. Some of the easiest updates I’ve made in homes can be the most life-changing for someone with dementia. While each person who has Alzheimer’s presents differently, the following DIY upgrades I’ve developed might help your loved one who is living with Alzheimer’s disease.
Use color to delineate rooms.
Color is a powerful tool in home design. It’s even more powerful for many people with dementia. Alzheimer’s makes it difficult to decipher between objects that are the same color. So you might not be able to see white mashed potatoes on a white plate or a blue ottoman on blue carpet.
Do you remember that scene in Still Alice when Julianne Moore couldn’t find the bathroom? Paint the bathroom door a different color than the rest and then make sure the white toilet isn’t in front of a white wall and on white flooring. The reason that some people with dementia pee in the bathroom trash can is because the can is usually a different color and easy to see. If you don’t have time to paint the entire bathroom, just paint behind the toilet.
When my dad was in a memory care facility, he was frustrated that his belongings would suddenly be missing from his room. Others were experiencing the same issue. They were going into each other’s rooms because every room had the same door and the interior was painted the same color. I spent an afternoon painting my dad’s room his favorite color of blue, and he never had a problem with anyone taking his things again.
Install stability helpers.
As mobility becomes more limiting due to a loved one’s decreased activity and just forgetting how to move from a seated position to a standing one, consider increasing the number of stability helpers in the home. Swap out armless chairs for sturdy chairs with solid arms and backs. It makes rising and lowering much easier.
And even though grab bars can become hugely essential, I’m not a fan of creating a hospital look for anyone’s home. These days, grab bars in the bathroom don’t have to look like grab bars. I recommend choosing toilet paper holders and towel bars that double as grab bars, like this toilet paper holder from Delta and this towel grab bar from Moen.
Get rid of glare.
Many people associate Alzheimer’s disease with forgetting, and expect that their loved one will stop recognizing family members and friends. While this happens to many, they also can forget that they have aged. That’s why someone with Alzheimer’s may think their daughter is their wife. Their brain often goes back to the time of their life when they were most vibrant, typically in their 20s or 30s.
So when they see themselves in a mirror or reflection, they may not recognize that they are seeing themselves. They may think it’s an older long-gone relative or a stranger who has broken into their home. If your loved one shows any signs of this, it’s best to eliminate potential issues by replacing mirrors with old photos or scenic vistas that bring them joy. Also be mindful that glare from the glass covering a photo can reflect their image, so it’s best to not have glass over artwork and photos in their home.
Forget about patterns.
In an Alzheimer’s home, patterns can be confusing. Just a simple flooring pattern or flooring change from one room to the next can appear in 3D to the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s. You might see your loved one raising their leg to step from one flooring type to another, or between parts of a patterned floor. If there’s a speckled or tiny pattern, you might also notice they bend down to pick up the tiny parts of the design. To them, there’s something on the ground.
The same goes for patterned fabrics on chairs and tablecloths. For some with Alzheimer’s disease, the pattern of flowers on a fabric might seem real. It may make it difficult to convince your loved one to sit or dine on what they see as a bed of flowers. Always choose solid contrasting colors and keep the flooring simple and the same whenever possible.
Eliminate tripping hazards.
Before I do any changes to the design of an Alzheimer’s home, I first encourage decluttering. Consider this: About 20 million adults in the U.S. have difficulty walking, 1 in 4 older adults fall each year, and falls cause more than 41,000 deaths each year. Reducing the tripping hazards in a home can greatly improve home safety and the chances of being able to care for yourself and stay in your home.
Piles of magazines, unused furniture, knickknacks, rugs that aren’t secured at the corners, and extra clothes piled up and cluttering guest bedrooms can add confusion and stress, and reduce the space allowed to move through rooms. Extra stuff can be visually distracting and disorienting—and therefore upsetting—to someone with dementia. It’s helpful to declutter, keeping out only those things that they need and store everything else.
Use light to ease sundowning.
Light becomes increasingly important in the life of someone with Alzheimer’s disease. Lighting levels naturally signal when it’s time to wake up and when to go to bed. But, many people also associate the setting sun with being busy. Evening hours often mean making meals, taking kids to activities, checking homework, doing chores, and cleaning up the house. A person with Alzheimer’s might have the sense that they should be busy during twilight hours, but unable to remember what to do. So they feel unsettled and become anxious. Giving them a task that they can do, like folding towels or setting the table, can help.
In addition, all aging adults have issues with the yellow tinting of sight, and the narrowing of vision. The more natural daylight available in the home, and the more even the light can be at night, the easier and less stressed it will be in an Alzheimer’s home. Choose lightbulbs that have a warm white color temperature of around 3000 kelvins(K), like these LED light bulbs from Great Eagle.
Also, keeping the light levels even and avoiding noise can help reduce stress and anxiety. Playing the favorite music of a loved one with dementia is always a good idea, too.
