We need to talk about dementia

Dr Donald Macaskill expresses grave concern about the limitations of short visits by home care staff.

Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care, talks about the practicalities of arranging care at home yourself.

There has been some really excellent research on how to help a person with dementia who also has visual impairment. This can affect the person's quality of life quite significantly and really impair their independence. Something as simple as increasing the light levels can make a big difference.

There are changes that you can make in the environment at home that will help the person with dementia. It is more difficult if the person has visual impairment and dementia, but there are still simple design changes that you can make.

If the person with dementia is living at home, the goal is to change as little as possible apart from increasing the light level. Avoid making changes that are not needed. It causes expense, and of course, the person with dementia might forget that the changes were made and wonder where all this new furniture came from.

The problems with mirrors for people with dementia are often discussed. If the person does not recognise their reflection, they might think that a mirror is a window, and they might be concerned that someone is staring at them, looking puzzled of course!

Making simple changes, like painting the bathroom door a different colour so it contrasts clearly with the walls around it, can help a person with dementia be as independent as possible and make it easier for them to find their way around.