The Memory Unit OT

So frequently in resident care facilities, the physical environment offers minimal to no color contrast.

Let’s take the bathroom for example: white tile on the floor and walls, white sink, white toilet, light tan trash can lined with a white trash bag.

For older adults, this often results in increased difficulty independently navigating the bathroom. Add a dementia diagnosis on top of it, and you’ve got a serious need for some environmental modification.

On multiple occasions, I’ve seen individuals with dementia attempt to use the trash can or the sink as the toilet. They are just so desperate to go, and their limited vision, problem solving, and visual perceptual skills result in this very unsafe behavior.

So how do we make the toilet more visibly obvious?

Let’s talk options…

You can actually purchase stickers that are designed to go inside the bowl of the toilet. These aren’t a bad option, however the ones that I’ve seen in practice tend to peel, which may not be great for the septic system and can also lead to some cleaning difficulties for the housekeepers.

I‘ve also seen people use bright red or green tape on the toilet seat. Now we know from evidence that red and green are the 2 best colors to improve contrast for older adults/individuals with dementia. But again, this option can lead to some infection control and hygiene issues as the tape is harder to fully clean when compared the typical smooth surface of a standard toilet seat. So instead of tape, you could recommend the family or facility purchase a brightly colored toilet seat.

The strategy I personally have used the most is the simple addition of a toilet tank cleaner pack. This will both clean the toilet bowl and provide increased color contrast. I find this also tends to be the preferred strategy among those who own the property or home, because this does the least amount of damage, is cost effective, and falls within compliance of infection control standards.

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