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How Should Toilets be Labelled for People With Dementia?
Author(s) -
Wilkinson T.J.,
Henschke P.J.,
Handscombe K.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
australian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 0726-4240
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.1995.tb00727.x
Subject(s) - toilet , dementia , labelling , elderly people , psychology , cognition , symbol (formal) , cognitive impairment , medicine , gerontology , psychiatry , linguistics , pathology , disease , philosophy , criminology
A mailed survey of 28 residential facilities for ambulant people with dementia questioning the types of labelling of residents' toilets yielded 24 replies: 42% (10) had no labelling, “Toilet” was used in 50% and “Male” or “Female” was used in 8%. The survey was followed by asking elderly people in an acute medical hospital ward and in an aged care residential complex their preferences for toilet word and symbol labelling There were 21 elderly people with normal cognition, 11 people with mild dementia and 16 people with moderate dementia. The international symbol was preferred by people with normal cognition or mild dementia but a symbol more representative of a toilet was preferred by people with moderate dementia (p < 0.05). “Ladies” or “Gents” was the word most preferred by people with normal cognition. “Toilet” was the word preferred by people with moderate dementia (p < 0.05). We recommend the use of the word “Toilet” accompanied by a picture of a toilet for labelling toilet doors for people with dementia.