Making healthcare washrooms dementia-friendly

HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS such as hospitals, community healthcare clinics, and care homes face the realities of dementia as they work to create safe, supportive, and efficient environments amid rising costs and workforce challenges.

In the UK, there are nearly one million people living with stages of dementia, and the disease accounts for around 70% of care home residents.¹ For sufferers, there are simple design choices that can make everyday tasks easier, helping residents feel more comfortable, reducing frustration and anxiety. And of course, it is the washroom that is among the most important spaces. Washrooms and toilet facilities are essential for dignity, independence and safety, yet they can also be confusing, overwhelming or physically risky for people with dementia.

Balancing costs with dementia needs 

Right now, providing high-quality care for Alzheimer’s and dementia sufferers is challenging as managers have to balance finances, workforce pressures and increasingly difficult resident and patient needs. Daily activities can become increasingly difficult with simple tasks such as using a toilet, especially in an enclosed space, often with bright lights and reflective surfaces, can be daunting and dangerous. Even basic actions, like finding the toilet, recognising a dispenser, or understanding how to use a tap or soap dispenser, can become demanding. 

Small dementia-friendly changes to the washroom can create a calmer, more confident, and safer toilet experience, making a real difference to people’s comfort, confidence, and overall experience, whether they are in a hospital, doctors’ surgery, or a care home. 

Features such as colour contrast and intuitive design can improve visibility for people living with dementia and create a more accessible washroom for everyone. The Dementia Services Development Centre provides a ‘Environments for ageing and dementia design assessment toolkit’ (EADDAT) which can advice on how to use tonal contrast key design tools to make spaces easier to navigate and understand.²

Available in a high-gloss black finish, the Kimberly-Clark Professional Aquarius dispenser stands out clearly against lighter surfaces. Clear visual cues and instructions on how to use the dispenser, along with straightforward, easy-to-understand operation, can also support independent washroom use for patients, residents and visitors. When washroom users can recognise and use hygiene features without assistance, they retain more autonomy, which becomes increasingly important as dementia inevitably progresses.

Better washrooms that balance accessibility and hygiene in healthcare environments

Alongside accessibility, hygiene remains a critical priority for healthy washrooms as they are high-traffic environments which need easy-to-clean, easy-to-maintain products that avoid cross contamination. The Aquarius dispensers from Kimberly-Clark Professional feature smooth, enclosed designs with no dirt traps for a quick one wipe clean. Ideal for busy washrooms, it the dispenser, which is part of a coordinated washroom range, is designed to offer advance protection against cross-contamination and is Kimberly-Clark Professional’s most hygienic dispenser. Controlled single-sheet dispensing and a never-run-out replacement feature ensure a continuous supply, critical for all healthcare sites. Another key benefit is one-sheet dispensing that helps control usage and reduce waste and unnecessary consumption, increasingly important as budgets across all healthcare environments tighten. 

The Aquarius mini twin roll centre feed toilet paper dispenser offers high capacity but fits small spaces. The dispenser is robust and lockable, and its high-gloss, smooth, rounded design features a controlled one-sheet dispensing system for quick, easy use, helping reduce mess and waste in high-hygiene spaces. 

The Aquarius wall-mounted soap dispenser is perfect for high-use hand wash areas. With a one-litre capacity, the liquid and foam dispenser delivers the right amount of soap, reducing usage and waste while enabling quick, hygienic dispensing in demanding care environments. 

Many healthcare facilities across the UK face other significant pressures. Staff shortages, rising demand with an ageing population and increasing complexity of care mean that every operational improvement can be significant. Dementia-friendly washrooms support domestic managers and healthcare cleaning staff by reducing time spent on maintenance and managing incidents caused by confusion or misuse.

Compact, easy-to-clean washroom dispensers can help streamline daily routines. Also, in high-use areas such as hospital hand wash stations, reliable soap dispensing is essential for hand hygiene. Systems that deliver the right amount of soap can help reduce waste, maintain hygiene standards and support quick, efficient handwashing without adding to staff workload.

Dementia-friendly hand washing

Good hand hygiene helps maintain high infection-control standards and prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Proper handwashing is essential to prevent illness and maintain hygiene in high-traffic areas. Studies show that improved hygiene practices, such as regular handwashing, can reduce the number of common colds by 21% and gastrointestinal illnesses by 31%.³

People with dementia often have memory problems or can get confused and forget about hygiene or are just unable to wash their hands. The Alzheimer’s Society⁴ created some simple ideas to help carers and families with hand hygiene for residents and loved ones with dementia. The advice includes washing hands with the person and maybe singing a song and putting reminder signs and posters near the wash basins. 

Reliability of product supply never more important 

For our busy care teams, reliable supply of hygiene products such as soap and tissues has never been more important as we tackle flu season. High-capacity hand towels, toilet tissue, sanitiser and soap dispensing systems help maintain product availability throughout the day while reducing the need to refill the dispensers. Built-in dispenser features, such as continuous roll replacement, help minimise run outs, ensuring essential hygiene products remain available when needed. 

When washrooms are designed to be efficient and hygienic whilst being intuitive and predictable, residents and patients require less assistance with their personal care. This helps maintain residents’ dignity, frees up valuable care staff time for more complex tasks, and helps maintain hygiene standards during every day, hectic periods. 

Balancing hygiene, dignity, accessibility with efficiency

In the UK, the number of people with dementia has grown by 9.6% since 2020, but this is faster than the 7.6% growth in care home beds¹, so dementia-friendly, cost-effective washroom hygiene equipment is increasingly important. 

The UK population continues to age; In 2025, there are an estimated 22.3 million people aged over 50 in England, equivalent to 38% of the total population. By 2045, this is projected to increase by 4.2 million to 26.6 million (42% of England’s population).⁵ In England alone, the number of people aged 50 and over has increased by almost 7 million in 40 years, and the number of people aged 80 and over is due to more than double in another 40 years’ time.⁶

This is inevitably increasing demand and challenges for healthcare services across hospitals, social services, community GPs and long-term care environments. As a result, dementia-friendly washroom design is becoming an increasingly crucial consideration for all healthcare providers.

Washrooms need products and systems that help organisations balance hygiene, dignity, accessibility, operational efficiency and sustainability. By creating easy-to-use washing facilities, healthcare providers can better support people living with dementia while helping staff maintain high standards of hygiene and care in increasingly demanding healthcare settings.

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For more information, visit www.kcprofessional.com

Sources: 

1. Dementia Statistics UK: The Definitive Guide (2026) onlinecpdacademy.co.uk/blog/dementia-statistics-uk

2. Building Accreditation — Dementia Services Development Centre www.dementia.stir.ac.uk/our-services/ea-ddat

3. CDC. (2021, June 3). Hand Hygiene at Work. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/handwashing/handwashing-corporate.html

4. www.alzheimers.org.uk/

5. state-of-health-care-of-older-people-in-england-2025.pdf www.ageuk.org.uk

6. Our Ageing Population | The State of Ageing 2023-24 | Centre for Ageing Better ageing-better.org.uk/