I've been attending weekly classes presxented by the AD Association of Seattle. The gal presenting all the material comes from a dementia nh background and has wonderful anecdotes to almost every situation. This is one that I've never heard but ran it by the facilitator at our Senior Center Memory Group and she knew about it, so, how many of you do? Ok, here it is: at some point dementia sufferers will lose the ability to see the non-color "white". Really? Yes, it is apparently true, which explains why so many AD patients looking for the bathroom pee somewhere else, they cannot see the toilet. And, what about bathtubs and other things white, nada, not seen well at all. I just thought this to be an amazing piece of information that I had to share with you all. Of course, I'm totally sure some of you already know this :-)
Another thing in the article is about not having printed rugs. They have a design on the carpet at the NH. Most new residents spend a good amount of time trying to pick up invisible objects. Took me awile to figure out it was the print! Poor buggers, the tricks their poor mind plays on them....
I brought this article into the nursing home, the next time they replace the carpet it won't have a print.
they recommend a black toilet seat for those experiencing this....they see black as a hole. Some NH use a black rug in front of a doorway to discourage escapees.
I wish I had this info a moth ago. I had our bathroom completely re done and it now has white tile on the walls, and white tub sink and toilet and the floor is patterned like stone. Well time to look for a black toilet and a red bath mat. Oh well, continue to learn as this disease progresses. This was a big help. Thanks!! I am new to this site and boy have I learned a lot since joining. It is so helpful just thought of something, in this article they say to paint door crams and base boards red, could we not use a bright coloured tape to do the same thing? Easier to remove later. I hope!! Thanks.
Just called our son to go to Home Depot and get me a black toilet seat,DH goes anywhere in bathroom but in hopper. Ann, I think the smart thing is to leave lid up all the time.
Nice to hear from you. And, thank you for the informative article; I think this is a good topic for our group. Jazzy: The article that Nikki referenced says that tape will work the same as paint and is easier to remove :-)) I'm about to have grab bars installed and I probably would have gone with white as it compliments my rooms, but probably not. I wonder if stainless will work?
I put white grab bars in our green "70's" bathroom. I have to constantly tell him to use them. He is going to break the flimsy towel bar. Maybe I should wrap the grab bars with red tape.
I have a stainless grab bar for the toilet in the downstairs bath; but I have a white one in the shower upstairs - but it has an aqua color on both ends. He has no problem with either.
I know nothing more or less about grab bars, peeing most any place and what the color of these object means to a person with AD. But, I really think they just forget what these objects are used for and have no idea what it has to do with them. Just my crazy guess. When a person wants to get Orange Juice out of a kitchen draw or goes to the microwave for a coke....does seem to me like they just don't know the function of these items and many other household items.
I forwarded this link to our kids with the title "why you might see red toilet seats at home."
We do what we have to do, but a red toilet seat is really testing the limits! The visual processing problems sure explains some of the weird behaviors, though.