Soft furnishings & sense of smell

Soft furnishings and sense of smell podcast

This podcast clip is 1 minute 55 seconds long. It describes the impact on a lady with dementia of adding her husband’s aftershave to a reed diffuser in the room and making small personalised changes to the environment.

Consent has been gained from all those who shared their stories.

Information about 'soft furnishings and sense of smell'

Please note: These are examples of what staff have done that have led to better outcomes for the people involved. However, it is important to recognise they will not suit everyone’s needs but serve to offer potential suggestions and to encourage you to explore alternative solutions that may help. Each example is the result of firstly getting to know and understand the individual, being curious to find solutions to providing better care and closely monitoring the outcomes of any changes made. If initiating suggestions given from the stories shared, we would encourage you to safeguard that person-centred care is in place and that you complement your learning from these stories with the relevant training needed to ensure you have the confidence and knowledge required.

Now take time to reflect.

Think of an individual you support…

Would this advice work for the person you support?

What else do you need to think about?

How can you implement this? What help do you need to do this?

Do you disagree with any aspect of the video?

Links to more resources about 'soft furnishings and sense of smell'

Environmental assessment tools that staff can use to help them to develop dementia friendly environments.
The University of Stirling’s Dementia Services Development Centre have developed Environment for Ageing Dementia Design Assessment Tool (EADDAT). This is a series of resources used to assess environments used by people with dementia. It is in two tiers the first has no charge where there is a cost for the second.
DesCHA’s booklet ‘Designing homes for healthy cognitive aging’ offers information to help you understand the basics of ageing and dementia friendly design.

General links for all resources