How can colour help people with dementia?

Colour has a part to play in influencing how someone with dementia feels and behaves. A dementia-friendly colour can change a person’s mood, lift it, make them feel calmer or more attentive. There are many different types of dementia and many people wonder how to cope with the early stages of dementia. This article explains how dementia-friendly colours can be used to help people with dementia and details what are the best colours for dementia.

Why is choice of colour important for people with dementia?

Colours are processed by your brain quicker than words. Choice of colours can benefit you if you have memory loss. Dementia can actually affect your ability to distinguish between objects but using colour can help.

A person’s cognitive ability can worsen, and particularly as you age, the lens of your eyes thickens. This means colours can look washed out and blues, greens and purples are harder to differentiate. 

As different objects become harder to distinguish, e.g.  handrails on a wall or food on a plate, Joshua Freitas, author of The Dementia Concept, recommends using different colours to provide contrast in spaces.  

The use of contrast helps mark edges like trip hazards, defines objects clearly and draws attention to things. For example, it can help a person with dementia locate food on their plate or help them find the toilet seat in a white bathroom.

When it comes to the use of colour, the NHS recommends:

• Using contrasting colours for walls and floors.
• Choosing colours on doors, banisters and furniture (such as beds, tables and chairs) that contrast with walls and floors to make them stand out and easier to spot.   
• Using crockery in contrasting colours to the tablecloth and dining table to define the edge of dishes.
• Avoiding bold patterns and stripes because they can be confusing and disorientating for someone with dementia.

What colours can help with dementia?

While everyone has their own favourite colour, certain colours can act as a tool to help support someone with dementia. They could be described as dementia-friendly colours. When it comes to supporting someone with dementia some colours can help while others can hinder efforts to give care and support.

What are the best colours for dementia?

Author Joshua Freitas, who is also a memory care program developer and researcher, said “Research shows that the colour blue can lower blood pressure and anxiety. Painting a room blue can not only create a more calming environment but can cause a room to appear larger.”

It is a good colour to use in bedrooms because blue causes the body to produce the calming hormone melatonin, resulting in more peaceful sleep.

Pink also has a calming effect and can ease aggression.

Red increases brain wave activity. It can get people’s attention. It can also stimulate appetite. So, if a person has dementia and is not eating enough, try using red dinner plates which also contrasts with food.    

Green boosts relaxation. It reduces central nervous system activity and helps individuals be calm.

Green is also the last colour people with dementia lose the ability to see.

It is as a result, a good uniform colour for care workers.  

“Lime green is a vibrant colour the eye can see as it ages. Lime green has been proven to be effective in bringing attention to important people, places, and things.

“For example, my organization dresses our caregivers in lime green shirts so that our residents…can more easily identify people who can help. At home, you can use lime green to create visual cues. To reduce falls in the bathroom, try to use a light green toilet seat to provide contrast.”

What colours are not good for dementia?

Black is considered by someone with dementia to look like a hole and so they will avoid them. As a result, black door mats placed next to a door could prevent a person with dementia wandering out through a particular door.  

If someone has been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, Mr Freitas said, “they often perceive black as scary or intimidating when worn from the kneecap down. This suggests that dressing in trousers and shoes of a lighter colour may help prevent difficult interactions.”

Yellow can quicken metabolism. Dementia care specialist Linda Slaton Anderson said: “Although yellow is usually considered a cheerful colour, research shows that people lose their tempers more often in yellow rooms.  So, if a patient exhibits aggression, it may be helpful to minimize exposure to yellow.”

Steps can look like a flat surface to someone with dementia and colour could be used for trip hazards.

Tommy Dunne was diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 58.

He moved into a bungalow after he began missing steps and falling down the stairs.

He has given talks in care homes to advise staff on how they can improve their understanding of dementia.

On X (formerly known as Twitter) Tommy posts (@TommyTommytee18) that he is ‘Living with dementia (Alzheimer’s) not suffering with it. I may not have enough time left to see a world without dementia but I hope to see one that accepts it.’

Tommy’s ability to educate others about dementia has led to bus companies in Liverpool painting yellow lines on bus steps. You can read a personal account of Tommy’s experiences living with dementia here.