Dementia is a disease that can lead to sensory changes, as well as complicate existing issues. In this series of articles, we're looking at how people living with dementia might experience these changes to their senses, and how good design can enable them to better enjoy their spaces.
Today, we're discussing position and balance.
(Also, check out our articles on vision and hearing.)
While we talk about our five senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch – there's another aspect to how we process and operate in the world around us that doesn't get as much attention.
How our senses help us position ourselves in our spaces (known clinically as proprioception) and how they support us to balance (the vestibular system) contribute to a subconscious but essential awareness that allows us to safely navigate the world.
This awareness helps us perceive and interact with our environment alongside the five senses.
Ageing affects both the positioning and the balancing systems.
As our joints stiffen or are replaced, our ability to position ourselves in the spaces we're in, or judge our place within that space, works less well.
We compensate by using our eyes more to know where our limbs are, such as looking at our feet when walking.
As we age, our ears become less efficient, and this includes the vestibular system. Maintaining balance becomes more difficult.
Emerging evidence shows a strong association between vestibular dysfunction (such as becoming unbalanced, postural inability or vertigo) and cognitive impairment.
Our ability to sense our position helps us navigate through spaces and around objects. When this is affected, so is the ability to move our bodies within physical and social spaces.
People living with dementia may find that they are wobbling, bumping into furniture, or even falling without knowing why. It may be because of balance problems.
Knowing that many people living with dementia have trouble orienting themselves in their environment and keeping their balance, good dementia-enabling design can support them to live better lives.
Several principles and features we share at our Dementia Design School – which tie into those featured in the draft National Aged Care Design Principles and Guidelines – directly facilitate easier navigation for those with cognitive impairments.
Some suggestions include:
There are many more proven design strategies that can assist people living with dementia to move around more confidently and safely in their spaces.
Our dementia design experts have plenty to share - sign up to a Design School, book an individualised dementia consultancy or review, or check out our resources for more.
Because better design choices really can lead to better lives.