Dementia and Home Safety: Tips for Caregivers

Caregivers of people with dementia are often tasked with keeping their loved ones safe at home. Unpaid family members or friends, referred to as care partners or caregivers, dedicate significant time and resources to assist the person with dementia as their needs intensify. Caregivers may find themselves providing increased assistance with everyday tasks like cooking and cleaning, and self-care tasks like dressing, bathing and toileting. This is often due to a decline in the person with dementia’s awareness of time and place, ability to solve problems or assess situations, strength and mobility, and senses (vision, hearing or depth perception). These declines also put people living with Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementias at increased risk of injury, especially as the disease progresses. 

Caregivers can take steps to create a safe home environment that minimizes the risk of injury or harm while maximizing the person’s independence for as long as possible. First, organize important information, including insurance information, names and contact information for healthcare providers, medications and allergies, emergency contact numbers, legal papers (living wills, advance directives and power of attorney), and contact information for friends and family members. Next, assess the home and outdoor spaces for potential barriers, such as uneven terrain or thresholds, poor lighting, chemicals or other potentially hazardous items. Once safety concerns are identified, caregivers can implement helpful strategies and adaptations to keep their loved ones safe, including: 

• Checking the temperature of food, beverages and bathwater
• Removing throw rugs, cords or other items that could cause someone to fall
• Installing adaptive equipment in the bathroom, like grab bars or shower chairs
• Adding extra lighting or nightlights in entryways, stairwells, bathrooms and hallways
• Using a hidden breaker or gas valve, or removing knobs to limit use of the stove when unattended
• Storing hazardous items or tools in a secure location
• Locking up medications and supplements

Some people living with dementia may exhibit wandering behaviors, such as forgetting how to get to familiar places in the home or community, talking about past obligations like going to work, restlessness or pacing, or being nervous in crowded or new locations. Structured routines, exercise or movement, deadbolts or locks on upper doors and cabinets and increased supervision or support can decrease the risk of wandering. 

While the journey with dementia brings many challenges, creating a safe home can help foster peace of mind for everyone involved. A sense of purpose and connection through participation in familiar routines, favorite activities and nurturing relationships with family and friends can promote safety, comfort and quality of life for people living with Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementias. 

If you or someone you love is impacted by Alzheimer’s disease or other related dementias, resources are available through organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association and the Veterans Affairs, as well as state agencies such as the Department of Human Services. No one needs to face this journey alone. These organizations provide education, home safety checklists and recommendations, extra help in the home and support groups. Check with your state to see what resources may be available to you. 

Ranelle Nissen, Ph.D., OTR/L, serves as an associate dean and associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Dakota. Nissen is a licensed occupational therapist in South Dakota. She has helped families and individuals affected by dementia through both her professional work and her volunteer work with the South Dakota Alzheimer’s Association.

Allison Naber, Ph.D., OTD, OTR/L, is the academic fieldwork coordinator and an associate professor in occupational therapy at the University of South Dakota. Naber is a licensed occupational therapist in Minnesota and South Dakota. She volunteers for the South Dakota Alzheimer’s Association as a support group facilitator and community educator. Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Tik Tok. Prairie Doc Programming includes On Call with the Prairie Doc®, a medical Q&A show (most Thursdays at 7pm on YouTube and streaming on Facebook), 2 podcasts, and a Radio program (on SDPB, Sundays at 6am and 1pm).

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