Safety is a common concern and consideration for people living with a diagnosis of dementia, their family, friends, and healthcare practitioners. Considering safety for persons living with a rare or young onset dementia can result in maintaining quality of life and dignity. Common safety concerns include falls, food safety, traffic safety, prevention of wandering, and safety with medications. Often safety can be a difficult issue as family members, people living with dementia, and healthcare providers may all have different perspectives on issues of safety. Safety is an important factor to living well in the face of a diagnosis of rare or young onset dementia, and we know that better equipping family and friends to assist a person living with dementia is a fundamental component of safety for people living at home.

Categories of Safety Considerations

Safety considerations can be thought of within four different categories. These include protecting physical safety, economic safety, emotional safety, and relational safety.

Physical Safety

• Being free from physical abuse.
• Having a preventative presence available for assistance.
• Appropriate protective aids, tailored to the person’s physical needs and physical environment.
• Monitoring by health professionals for safety considerations such as driving and/or continuing to work.

Economic Safety

• Being free from financial abuse.
• Prevention of unnecessary spending.
• Maintaining dignity through practical assistance.

Emotional Safety

• Being free from mental or emotional abuse.
• Maintaining dignity.
• Preventing loneliness.
• Promoting positive moments and positive feelings.

Relational Safety

• Safety in community in interactions with others.
• Technology and virtual communications.

In the case of physical safety, appropriate protective aids may include stove guards, electronic calendars, portable alarms, and single dose or secure medication containers. We know that the protective factors needed for all areas of safety will be dependent on an individual’s living situation, connection and relationship with family and friends, and their own individual physical, economic, emotional, and relational needs.

While discussions around appropriate safety measures can be challenging, having a comprehensive safety plan in place becomes an important tool for all as dementia progresses through the stages. Each individual living with a diagnosis of rare or young onset dementia, their family and their friends may problem solve safety concerns in different ways. Attending groups with Rare Dementia Support Canada is one way that both family and friends and people living with a diagnosis may hear ideas from other people who share similar experiences.

For more information and resources related to safety in dementia, please visit:

• • Provincial Resources to support you – Planning for Care – Forward with dementia: A guide to living with dementia Provincial Sites