Safe house

Leaving the room triggers audible and visual reminders not to forget your keys

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Dementia can be a stressful and lonely experience for patient and carer, but technology can make life easier and safer for both. Scientists at Stirling University have created a "dementia house" to show how simple design can make a big difference.

At the top of the stairs in the unit is an over-sized, bright blue light switch with a contrasting white dot in the middle.

Like many of the features at the Dementia Centre, making such an essential object easy to find and use seems an obvious way to help someone whose eyesight and mind are failing.

But the unit's director, Professor June Andrews, says that years of research have gone into finding such simple solutions.

“Some think that the light level makes a bigger difference than the medication”

Professor June Andrews Dementia Centre director

"What you end up with in hindsight is completely obvious," she says.

"But the real trick is getting people to the hindsight stage."

Dementia - the most common type being Alzheimer's disease - is generally found in the over 65s, and as well as the progressive loss in brain function, it is common for those with the condition to have poor eyesight as well.

So light switches contrast highly with the walls, toilet seats are red and cupboard doors are bright green.

All the rooms are lit brightly and evenly - another simple change that can have a big impact, says Prof Andrews.

"Some think that the light level makes a bigger difference than the medication," she says.

A commonsense approachGlass-fronted fridgeGPS trackerDe-cluttered roomsRecorded message remindersClock with night and day signsUniform flooringBrightly-lit rooms

"I don't know if that's right or not... but increasing the light level can make a huge difference."

Colour is also used to disguise the irrelevant, to simplify the living spaces of people who can be easily confused.

The Dementia Centre's Eileen Richardson, who gives tours of the suite to professional and home carers, points out a door which is designed to blend into the background.

"The cleaner's cupboard is a white door against a white background," she says.

"It's disguised by just being uninteresting."

The same principle is used on the flooring - which is uniformly blue throughout the suite - to help prevent trips or falls, says Ms Richardson.

Contrast and colour is u