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This Book of IKEA Hacks Is Meant to Make Life With Dementia Easier

Olivia Harvey
Olivia Harvey
Olivia Harvey is a freelance writer and award-winning scriptwriter from outside Boston, Massachusetts. She’s a big fan of scented candles, getting dressed up, and the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley. You can make sure she’s doing okay via Instagram and/or Twitter.
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published Nov 16, 2020
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IKEA furniture can be hacked into unique items to better fit a person’s needs. And now, thanks to architecture firm Lekker Architects and design company Lanzavecchia + Wai, there’s an entire book’s worth of IKEA hacks designed to help enhance the lives of those with dementia.

The two companies were commissioned by the Lien Foundation to create Hack Care, a 240-page manual filled with IKEA hacks to help caregivers create a safe, secure, and useful space for their loved ones with dementia. The book, which is styled like an IKEA catalog, “presents a visual compendium of more than 50 hacks and tricks, essays and stories to make the home a friendlier place for those living with dementia and to help their caregivers cope with the daily challenges of caregiving,” a press release reads.

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Credit: Khoo Guo Jie

For those living with dementia, brain stimulation and physical support is crucial, and the manual helps achieve this by providing home hacks for caregivers to complete for their loved ones—from taking an IKEA cutting board and making it more usable for fidgety fingers, to improving a POÄNG armchair to make it easier for the elderly to sit down in. The goal of these hacks is to help those with dementia become “engaged, empowered and enabled” at home.

“Living with dementia is daunting, and our everyday home environments do not always anticipate or meet the unique needs of people battling cognitive and physical frailty,” said Mr. Lee Poh Wah, CEO of the Lien Foundation, said in a press release. “These challenges can be mitigated with good design that is functional, inspirational and accessible, and shaped by the shared experiences of caregivers who have been on a similar journey,”

While the Hack Care manual has tips and tricks to aid caregivers and improve the quality of life for those with dementia, the creators of the book note that the hacks are just jumping-off points. The goal is to get caregivers thinking differently about the everyday items they use with their loved one.

You can learn more about Hack Care and download your own copy of the book over on the official website.

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