Tips about staying safe and secure at home after a dementia diagnosis

There are many ideas that could help home safety. Keep emergency contacts near the phone or stored on it. 

This can be alongside other useful details, such as where the stopcock, gas and electricity meters, fuses and first aid box are. 

Get your washing machine, fridge, oven, boiler and other appliances checked regularly. 

Keep guarantees, warranties and maintenance information somewhere they’re easy to find. 

Test carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms once a week. Perhaps use timers to control when heating, plugs and lights go on and off. 

Moving around 

Make sure there’s good lighting throughout. Install sensor lights for when you get up in the night. 

Remove anything you might trip over, like rugs and loose cables, or which could cause confusion, such as hallway mirrors. 

Could grab rails on the stairs and in the bathroom help? 

Consider having a personal alarm to alert others if you fall. 

Who can help? 

If you rent your home, your landlord, letting agent, local council or housing association should be able to help you make it safe. 

Are there relatives or friends who could help with certain tasks or check in on you occasionally? 

Is there someone you could leave spare keys with, or could you install a key safe?

Your tips to help with home safety

Martina Davis in Cumbria says,

‘Creating invaluable solutions gives me inspiration. Walking into doorways? Find a focal point. 

Enable automatic reactions by keeping things in the same place. Use your senses – hearing is great backup. 

‘Cook safely – invest in the right tools. Most importantly breathe, think and then act.’

Pel T in Leicestershire says,

‘My mum has interlinked smoke detectors and a falls alarm pendant. We keep an emergency info file in the kitchen with contacts, medication list, DNR form etc for paramedics, and a weekly food diary. 

The community mental health team provided an occupational therapy assessment for aids and support. 

‘Mum uses a water bottle with inbuilt straw.’

nitram says,

‘A lockable gas cock can prevent accidents using a gas appliance. It should be possible to get one fitted for free. Failing that, any Gas Safe engineer can supply and fit one.’

Paul Salter in Portsmouth says,

‘My partner often gets up at night to use the toilet. He increasingly struggled to find his way out of the bedroom as he didn’t put the light on. 

He’d knock things over or be “stuck” in the corner of the room. 

‘I’ve bought some plug-in, movement-activated night lights on Amazon and he has not had a problem since, and of course my nights are now more restful.’