Visual changes and dementia
A person with dementia can experience visual changes. There are things you can do to make their environment easier to manage.
Experiencing visual changes can be disorientating and stressful. There are things you can do to make things easier for the person you’re caring for which will make life less stressful for both of you. Lorraine Haining, Specialist Dementia Nurse, Dementia Carers Count
Visual changes
A person with dementia can have visual changes.
It can be helpful to consider adapting an environment for somebody who’s beginning to have problems. This will reduce any stress they may experience and can have a big impact their well-being and on your own well-being.
Ways you can help someone who is experiencing visual changes
Eye contact
Sometimes a person may not understand the information that we’re giving them. They may not understand what they need to do next, but they will use your face to get cues. So it is so important that they can see your face, and in particular your eyes.
Approach
A person with dementia may lose some of their peripheral vision. This means they might see things a little like it would be if you were wearing a pair of binoculars.
It also means that they may lose some of their depth perception and they could be struggling to recognise objects.
Make sure you are in front, but slightly to the side of them. They may not know you are there, or see you, if you’re to their side.
Time to adjust
It can take a person much longer to process things they see and to shift their focus from one thing to another, so always allow time.
Declutter
Try to avoid having too many objects in front of a person, so they don’t have to process lots of visual information all at once.
Removing distractions or confusing items
This can help a person to focus on using the item they need to use e.g. remove a fork from the table if eating soup.
Crockery
Thinking about the plate and bowls you use can also be helpful. If you have a white bowl with porridge in, it may look like there’s nothing there. The colours don’t stand out from each other. A pattern on a plate could look like food, when in fact the plate is empty.
Use bright and contrasting colours
If you provide a bright coloured mug or glass, for example, the person is more likely to see it on the table in front of them. This means they’re far more likely to pick it up and have a drink.
Use traditionally shaped objects
These will make sense to a person with dementia.
Bright lighting
A brightly lit environment reduces the number of shadows which can be misinterpreted, It also improves the ability to do tasks.
Distractions/misinterpretations
You might want to think about flooring. It may be misinterpreted as a risky place to walk.
For example a shiny, glittery vinyl flooring may begin to look like slippery water, which someone would want to avoid.
Dark rugs on a light carpet may be interpreted as a huge gaping hole in the floor.
Swirls on a carpet might be seen as worms or snakes.
Read Next
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