Understanding & Supporting People with Dementia – Person-Centred and Dignified

Walking through a space with dementia eyes

This page shows how to examine a space in four steps and how to plan a route that supports movement. Adapt the steps and phrases to your setting. A good change is small, tested and shared.

Worked example: Mr Costa and the corridor

Return to Mr Costa from the beginning of this module. The team decides to do a walk-through of the corridor, once in the afternoon and once in the evening, and to look at it from his eye level. They follow the four steps below and record what they find.

1. Watch first. Mr Costa stops each evening at the same spot, where a dark mat meets the corridor floor. He does not stop at lunchtime. A carer notices that the evening light from the window makes the floor shine.
2. Look through his eyes. The team stands where he stands. The dark mat can look like a hole, the shiny floor like water, and the mirror at the end shows a figure that moves towards him.
3. Change one thing at a time. On the first day they remove the mat. On the third day they cover the mirror with a picture. On the fifth day they fit a blind. Each change is noted so that the team learns what helped.
4. Check and share. After a week Mr Costa walks through the corridor in the evening with a cheerful remark about the picture. The team writes the changes in the care plan and tells the next shift.

Notice the order: watch, look, change one thing, check. Changing everything at once makes it impossible to learn what works, and it can confuse the person if familiar things disappear overnight.

A route that invites walking

Figure 7.3 shows a ring-shaped route with four places to pause: a seat with a view, a memory shelf, a garden door that is open by day and a quiet alcove. The plan follows the idea in the original text of circular routes without dead ends. It is a layout idea and not a standard. What matters is that the person can walk, stop, look and return without meeting a locked door or a blank wall.

Look at how the four places work together. The seat offers a rest before the person gets tired. The memory shelf offers something to touch and talk about. The garden door gives access to daylight and fresh air. The alcove offers a retreat when the route becomes too busy. When the person is walking to find something, you can accompany them for a stretch, and then offer a seat and a drink.