Creating an Alzheimer's Friendly Bedroom

by Lara Belonogoff

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The bedroom should be a place that is calming and comfortable as this will help to reduce any agitation. Additionally, it should be set up with Alzheimer’s safety precautions in mind so as to prevent falls and also make it easy to access the bathroom at night.

Keep the bedroom soothing and simple. Remove any excess clutter, but try to keep familiar objects and photos of family members as decorations.
Prevent falls. For some, bed rails work as a good fall prevention technique; however, others may view the bars as an obstacle they must climb over, rendering them very dangerous. Placing soft pillows or cushions around the bed may work best for people who do not deal well with bed rails.
Listen in. For round-the-clock Alzheimer’s care supervision, consider getting a monitoring device for the bedroom so that you or the other caregivers can hear if they awake during the night. This is especially important if either wandering or fall prevention is an issue to consider.
Secure the doors. Door locks should be removed. You may also want to put an alarm on the door should wandering during the evening while the caregiver sleeps be an issue.
Late-night bathroom trips. You will need to play around with the lighting to see what works best in terms of Alzheimer’s care. Some people can sleep with soft lighting within the room whereas others may need lights on in hallways or along the trajectory to the bathroom in order to find it.
Create warmth. For many older adults, feeling cold can cause disturbances in sleep. Electric blankets should not be used for those who are incontinent. Instead find bedding that will keep your loved one warm throughout the night or set up heaters to go on at specific times, but that are not in reach of the individual with Alzheimer’s disease.