People with dementia may struggle to understand what is happening around them. Having a cluttered environment can make it difficult for them to make sense of their environment and how it is affecting them. A good way to ensure that they feel safe and aren’t overstimulated is by helping them declutter their environment to help them focus on simple activities and things.
Dementia affects people severely; therefore, keeping sentimental belongings with them will help them maintain a sense of who they are and their identity. But with a cluttered environment, easily locating these objects can be difficult, which can result in confusion and overwhelming feelings.
Here’s how you can help them declutter without making them feel insecure.
Approach Them Kindly
Seniors with dementia or Alzheimer’s are often easily startled or feel threatened by faces or people that they don’t recognize. With a fraying memory, it can become difficult to identify people even if they have met them before.
However, when you’re trying to help them out, you can always reach out to them kindly. Talk to them, introduce yourself, and ask them how they feel before you start trying to help them out. Once they feel warmer toward you, you can jump in and help them out.
Throw Out Unnecessary Items
Whether a senior is living in one of the best Alzheimer’s communities or at home, making sure that their space is free and open for them to explore is important. Here’s how you can do that: look for extra receipts, bills, or papers that may seem to be taking up space, and discard them.
Keep Familiar Things Around
For a senior with Dementia to feel empowered and safe, they need to be surrounded by reminders of things they hold close and things they treasure for themselves. These things will help them feel less threatened and scared in a new environment. Especially if these seniors are living in memory care communities, they need to have something around that makes them feel like they belong.
Find the Best Assisted Living Communities in Oklahoma
We understand how difficult it can be to find the perfect senior assisted living community for your loved ones, especially if they are battling something as serious as Dementia. But, with the right guidance from the right people, you can find one space in no time.
Check out Next Level Senior Living Advisor to get some of the best advice about finding quality senior living communities. We can help you find the best spaces without too much worry. For more information, you can give us a call.
