Dementia Environment Audit
Dementia-Friendly Environment Audits for Care Homes and Hospital Wards
A specialist review of your building through the eyes of the person living with dementia, with practical, prioritised changes that reduce distress and support independence.
The challenge
The building is part of the care
For a person living with dementia, the physical environment directly affects confusion, agitation, falls and independence. A shadow on the floor can look like a hole. A toilet door that blends into the wall can go unfound.
Many audits stop at a checklist of fixtures. A PMH dementia environment audit looks at how the space is actually experienced, and what a dementia-friendly environment needs to look like for the people who live or stay there.
Each audit forms part of the person-led approach set out in our Unique Life, Unique World™ framework, where the environment is considered alongside the person's history and perceived reality.
The environment affects
Confusion
Agitation
Falls
Independence
Scope of the audit
What the audit covers
We review four areas that shape how a person living with dementia experiences a care home or ward.
- 01
Lighting and contrast
Even light levels that reduce shadows and glare, and colour and tonal contrast that makes doors, handrails, toilets and edges easier to see.
- 02
Signage and wayfinding
Clear, consistent signage at the right height, so people can find their bedroom, the toilet and communal spaces without needing to ask.
- 03
Layout
Routes, communal spaces and bedrooms arranged to support orientation, choice and calm, rather than confusion and dead ends.
- 04
Sensory factors
How the space looks, sounds and feels to someone whose perception has changed, and where it may be adding to distress.
Who we work with
Who this is for
Care homes and care home groups
Registered managers and operations leads who want an independent view of one home, or a consistent standard across a group.
NHS trusts with dementia wards or units
Ward managers, dementia leads and estates teams looking to make clinical spaces easier to understand and move around for patients with dementia.
Providers planning refurbishment or building work
An audit before work begins helps protect that investment, so design decisions support people living with dementia instead of needing to be corrected later.
Outputs
What you receive
Findings
A clear account of how the environment is working for people living with dementia, and where it is creating barriers.
Prioritised recommendations
Practical changes set out in order of priority, including low-cost changes your team can make immediately.
A route to wider improvement
The option to continue into wider dementia care consultancy, connecting environmental change to care planning and practice.
Dementia environment audits
Frequently Asked Questions
Speak directly with a senior consultant.
Whether you are planning a refurbishment or want to understand how your current environment is working, you will speak directly with a senior consultant. Contact PMH
Original methodology developed through decades of practice
Evidence-based frameworks that deliver measurable outcomes
Senior consultants who created the models they implement