{"id":211,"date":"2013-09-20T06:22:30","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T11:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/?p=211"},"modified":"2013-09-20T06:23:15","modified_gmt":"2013-09-20T11:23:15","slug":"design-tips-to-soften-effects-of-alzheimers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/design-tips-to-soften-effects-of-alzheimers\/","title":{"rendered":"Design Tips To Soften Effects Of Alzheimer&#8217;s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you talk to someone whose parent suffers from Alzheimer&#8217;s, they will tell you the disease changes life for everyone in the family. Alzheimer\u2019s can create changes in a person\u2019s independence and personality that are emotionally and financially devastating to loved ones.<\/p>\n<p>Alzheimer&#8217;s is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in increasingly impaired memory, thinking, reasoning, and behavior. It is the most common form of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.csa.com\/discoveryguides\/alzsa\/gloss.php#dem\" target=\"_blank\">dementia<\/a>, an umbrella term used to describe the loss of cognitive or intellectual function.<\/p>\n<p>The single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer\u2019s is age. Although the disease can occur in younger people, even in their 30s and 40s, the risk significantly grows after age 65. It is estimated that 50% of those who pass their 80<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0birthday will be stricken. There are other risk factors besides age: family history of Alzheimer\u2019s, stress, serious illness or injury, inadequate physical and social activity, poor diet, and perhaps even race.<\/p>\n<p>Taking care of someone with Alzheimer\u2019s can be overwhelming. Many people turn to assisted living or a nursing home as their best solution. Innovative design features are transforming dementia care. Outlined below are design items to consider when searching for a memory support community. In addition to asking about staffing, meals, and other operation issues, take a look at the building\u2019s design and amenities.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Glare,\u00a0bright\u00a0light, noise, clutter, and interactions between other people are some of the factors that need to be controlled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Contrasting colors between floors, walls, and ceilings to help discern where each starts and ends. Painted walls behind a toilet and\/or a colored toilet seat help people\u00a0find\u00a0their target.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Indoor and outdoor furniture should not tip over or have sharp edges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Doors\u00a0equipped\u00a0with\u00a0two-way locks that cannot\u00a0trap residents in\u00a0a\u00a0room.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Visual cues like pictures on drawers and closets to remind residents of the contents.\u00a0Or a toilet on the door to a\u00a0public\u00a0restroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lever handles for door and faucets so they are easier to operate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Walking and sitting areas\u00a0with ample room to\u00a0protect a person\u2019s\u00a0\u201cprivate space\u201d\u00a0and prevent tripping.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Decals on large glassed areas, such as doors or windows.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Level floor surfaces.\u00a0Flooring\u00a0should have a pattern free of design, avoiding large dark areas that can appear to an Alzheimer\u2019s\u00a0resident as a hole they might fall into.\u00a0 Floor surfaces should have a dull finish, not\u00a0a\u00a0wet look\u00a0that can be interpreted as dangerous to walk on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Interior designs need to be simple rather than busy.\u00a0\u00a0Some paisley designs might be\u00a0interpreted as snakes. Busy patterns can cause confusion or anxiety.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Courtyard landscaping\u00a0that is free of\u00a0thorny or poisonous\u00a0items.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Security\u00a0measures to prevent\u00a0a wanderer\u00a0from exiting unnoticed thru a door, window, or fence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Life skills stations that contain familiar things for the residents to touch and do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Walls\u00a0with\u00a0tactile, three-dimensional artwork that can be touched.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>A\u00a0snuggling room that provides\u00a0a\u00a0calm, soothing environment to\u00a0reduces tension, anxiety, and hostility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Nightlights or motion sensitive lights that turn on if a resident gets up from bed during the night.\u00a0A 24-hour low level light over the toilet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Open shelving and removable bathroom and closet doors in resident apartments to increase visual cueing.\u00a0Conversely, some\u00a0people do better\u00a0with limited access and may require lockable closet doors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Inside and outside\u00a0wandering paths\u00a0with built-in areas of interest to occupy and entertain residents along the way. Comfortable places to sit and rest should be included along the pathway.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Joyce Clark is the CEO of Achievis Senior Living Associates. Achievis is a development and consultant company to a variety of long-term care providers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.achievisseniorliving.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Email:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/?view=cm&amp;fs=1&amp;tf=1&amp;to=achievis@cox.net\" target=\"_blank\">achievis@cox.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you talk to someone whose parent suffers from Alzheimer&#8217;s, they will tell you the disease changes life for everyone in the family. Alzheimer\u2019s can create changes in a person\u2019s independence and personality that are emotionally and financially devastating to loved ones. Alzheimer&#8217;s is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}