Many long term care facilities are are attempting to make residents rooms more of a “homely” environment. Often times a resident will demand a greater need for long term care services and have to move around to different rooms. This tends to give a lot of residents an unstable feeling, lack of independance, anxiety, or even depression.

Recent studies have shown that up to 45% of residents living in a nursing home suffer from some type of depression. With age naturally comes a sense of loneliness, grief, or needing help with daily activities, a lot of care givers overlook some of the signs of depression. Nursing homes are now making rooms of the residents have more of a personal touch and it’s decreasing the amount of depression throughout the facility.

By adding personal touches to the residents rooms and creating a home-like environment over 60% of people during a recent study were no longer suffering with depression. Adding things such as lighting, decor, plants, and soothing items to the room are great ways to reduce levels of anxiety/depression. Creating a space that is organized and that keeps you mobile is perfect. Using things like storage containers, stackable drawers and closet organizers are helpful to monetize your space.

Another great idea to adding a personal touch to the residents rooms are by using lighting and decorations. Making the room bright and happy or soothing and calming can create the most wonderful atmosphere. Also try adding things such as blankets, candles, photo albums or picture frames to make it feel like their home. This will take the transition from clinical to homey for residents.