Dementia: Impacts on Physical Environment and Recommendations for Enabling Environment

Running head: DEMENTIA 1
Dementia
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

DEMENTIA 2
Introduction
Dementia is a general term for a collection of symptoms that occur due to impairment in
the memory of an individual (Dyer et al., 2016). Interference with the thinking capacity of the
patients interferes with the ability of an individual to perform daily chores. The primary types of
dementia include Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Examples of causes of the
complication include vitamin deficiencies and thyroid problems. The condition has physical,
cognitive, and behavioral impacts on the patient. A majority of the clients are of advanced age
above sixty-five years. This paper will discuss the findings based on an observation of a fifty-bed
residential aged care facility located in a town of approximately thirty thousand people. The
write-up will elaborate on how the patients of dementia have difficulties in accessing their
physical environment. The discussion will relate to the physical and cognitive changes due to the
disease. Finally, the essay will discuss the recommendation for an enabling environment for the
patients.
Methodology
The team of experts visited the aged care facility to explore the impacts of dementia on
the patients. The investigators conducted both individual and group interviews with the selected
patients. The researchers also checked on the medical records of the patients for more
information. Data analysis was through SPSS and the findings recorded for future reference.
Findings
The physical and the cognitive impacts of dementia make the patients have difficulties in
accessing the aged care facility (Eshkoor, Hamid, Mun, & Ng, 2015). The complication makes it
difficult for the clients to recognize places and people. Therefore, when the patients go out of the
facility, they find it hard to identify the location of the hospital and the other patients. The

DEMENTIA 3
disease also makes individuals forget their way into the hospital and the specific bed where they
always rest. Dementia makes patients have a poor memory; thus finding it hard to locate their
bed space.
The information from the medical records of the patients also indicates that the patients
get confused easily. Consequently, the clients can forget the bed space of fellow patients for their
own. The patients also noted that they have deficient levels of attention and concentration.
Therefore, it is easy to distract the patients due to the default in their memory (Wong et al.,
2016). The disease also disrupts the thinking capability of the patients. The clients also find it
hard to solve simple problems within the health facility. An example is when the patient
recognizes a running water tap but fails to close the valve.
Apart from the cognitive impacts, dementia also has physical effects on the patients. The
disease impairs the ability of the patient to move from one place to the other. A majority of
patients walk by drugging their feet and shuffling (Carr, & O’Neill, 2015). The client also finds
difficulty in sitting up. The impairments make the patients spend a majority of their time in a
sleeping position. Therefore, the family of the patients should take them to the aged care facility
for adequate medical attention.
The complication decreases the sensitivity of the patients. The clients can lose the sense
of sight, hearing, and smell after the development of dementia (Irish, & Piolino, 2016).
Therefore, the patients who have lost sight find difficulties in walking during the night or in
poorly-lit places. The disease also makes an individual restless and sleepy at most times.
Individuals who are always sleepy cannot stand for long as they can fall. Dementia weakens the
immune system of patients thereby increasing their vulnerability to infections. Therefore, factors
like bright lights can interfere with the sights of the patients.