Hello,
And welcome to episode 25 of my series of Tiny Talks related to Dementia.
Today I will be talking about the physical environment.
Occupational therapy is a way of adapting the physical environment to create safe and comfortable surroundings.
Think about bars attached to the walls that can assist with toileting and showering independently,
Or are strategically placed along a long corridor creating opportunities for people to rest or as a safety net.
Think about removing doorsteps so walkers and wheelchairs are not obstructed,
Installing an alarm button,
Installing a safety switch on gas cooking,
That turns it off automatically after a certain amount of time.
Think adapted phones and other electronics.
Most of these need to be installed by a professional,
But you can apply the idea of occupational therapy in many ways.
An example,
A man who would consume too much alcohol.
A habit that combined with forgetfulness gets easily out of hand.
He simply does not remember if and how much he has consumed.
An occupational intervention would involve 1.
A calendar with a clear marking,
Today is Monday.
2.
Labels on the beer bottles with days,
For example again Monday.
And 3.
A crate to store empty bottles,
Again with labels for days of the week.
With some training,
For example using spaced retrieval,
The person can learn to keep the days of the week up to date on the calendar.
To find the beer bottles that match the correct day and are thus for consumption today.
And placing the empty bottles in the spaces for that particular day.
If he has then forgotten if or how many drinks he has had,
He may check the day on the calendar and check if the bottles for that day are in the fridge or in the crate.
It takes some time and energy for sure,
But may result in ongoing enjoyment of a favoured drink,
Whilst avoiding hazardous situations.
In addition to being safe,
Houses should feel homely and personal.
Often residential homes look like hospitals,
Highly practical but far from home.
I have seen many examples of homely homes away from home.
The facility in rural Australia that featured many free roaming animals like chickens,
Cats,
Dogs and fish.
A place in Belgium that used large banners of local landmarks,
Like the church,
At the corners of corridors to help with navigation.
Left at the church.
An Indonesian hospital ward,
Where the backdoors opened into a beautiful garden and people were free to walk outdoors.
Rooms can be marked with photos in addition to names or numbers,
Or even memory boxes filled with things that a person loves.
And the list goes on.
