Our amazing maintenance chap, Ainars, has built a superb bus stop at Lyndhurst. This is to help our residents with dementia who walk without aim. This is particularly heightened during the late afternoons and evenings, a state known as sundowning. At our bus stop there is a bench, canopy, and even a local map and a bus sign. It is a place to meet and chat, rest and contemplate. Waiting for a bus is something many of us do or have done. This familiar feeling, combined with both a sense of place and a journey to it, can generate feels of purpose and security.
Sundowner symptoms may present as restlessness, agitation, irritability or confusion, and hence residents would usually then pace around the care home. In coping with Sundowning, carers can try to limit potential reaction triggers during this evening time. This may include creating distraction areas to fulfil purpose. At Lyndhurst we are continuously working on design and dementia strategies to enable our clients to live a fulfilled quality of life.
