2023-03

With the generous donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing has launched the Jockey Club Younger Onset Dementia Support Project, the first pilot project for people with younger onset dementia in Hong Kong.

For people with younger onset dementia, aside from medical intervention, creating a positive and supportive living environment help enhance their quality of life and relieve caregivers’ stress. We believed that maintaining physical and mental health, participating in various activities and positive environment would encourage people with dementia actively take part in daily activities, fulfill their sense of satisfaction and relieve stress of caregivers.

As a caregiver, what could we do on environmental design? Occupational Therapist suggests:

1. Provide adequate lighting and make good use of sunlight
   Adequate lighting may reduce fall risk. Besides, making good use of sunlight can serve as a time indicator in order to remind people with dementia to engage various activities in appropriate time.
2. Add orientation clues in place of activity
   Due to the influences of dementia, people with dementia may experience confusion even they are in familiar places. Therefore, we may hang signs with large font size to help identifying the area or items to avoid confusion as well as elevating sense of orientation.
3. Make good use of technology to enhance the overall care
   Although people with dementia may get lost, we can protect them through technology instead of letting them to stay at home. There are various technological products such as tracking devices, bed alarms and electronic fencing which can be utilized to secure their safety.

For more information on environmental design and home safety, please click the link below:
https://www.jccpa.org.hk/en/about-dementia/caring-tips/home-safety/

For more information about the project, please click the link below:
https://www.jccpa.org.hk/en/projects/yod/