Environmental Suggestions
Minimising clutter can make it much easier to find items. For example, only have seasonally appropriate clothing in the wardrobe.
Having a set place for items that the person with dementia regularly uses can make it easier to find them later. Often they have already been using a regular spot in their homes to leave items such as house keys, wallets or handbags. This may be on a sideboard or cabinet near the front door, a bedside table or a desk in the study. The ‘Helpful Handbook for Memory Loss’ suggests that a row of coat hooks is a useful way of keeping important things together.
Sometimes placing items between shoulder and hip height can assist by bringing the items into the person’s field of vision, thus making it easier for them to see and reach items.
A glass panel in a cupboard door in the kitchen or bathroom, or removing the cupboard door completely, allows the easy identification of the contents of the cupboard and reduces the need to open all cupboards to search for the item.
Painting and Colour using colour to contrast or highlight key locations in the home can make it easier to locate cupboards or rooms.