Giving residents a better view
For most of his life, Sechelt artist Dean Schutz has been painting. For more than half of those years, the artist found a passion for creating murals in the community of Sechelt, in homes, schools, public spaces and markets and for the first time to help people with dementia at Shorncliffe Care Facility.
Over three weeks this past spring, Dean worked on detailed murals in the Gardenview Dementia unit of the facility, painting clear, windowed ocean views and a life-sized book case filled with realistic green plants and more than 130 volumes of books.
Not only do the murals liven up the bare walls, but they also help the residents there, assisting with way-finding (moving to comfortable areas) and easing patterns of door testing (opening doors to leave the room), which people with dementia tend to do. Covering doorways with his art, Dean is eliminating any triggers, creating a more comfortable environment for the patients.
“It was really nice to know that your work not only makes it more of a home environment, but it has a positive effect on reducing stress and making (the residents’) lives better. It was really gratifying for my art to provide some added joy.”
Marina McBride, manager of Residential Care at the facility, says the murals have made a huge difference in the home since they were painted.
“It’s been very effective,” she says. “Before, we’d have people congregating around the doorways, waiting for an opening but now they move through the space and don’t identify the door and feel they need to leave; they’re more comfortable and relaxed on the unit.”
To create realistic images, Dean employed trompe l’oeil, a three-dimensional technique that uses realistic imagery to create almost an optical illusion.
“It was a fairly big project and not because of the area, but because of the trompe l’oeil technique,” Dean says, “I had had to use as much detail as I could to fool the eye. I counted about 130 books in the end and each of those books had shadows and highlights – that really adds up.”
The murals also promote way finding with the residents, so encouraging them to move along towards areas near windows where they can sit instead of feeling the urge to stand around the doorway.
“We began this project, as part of our Eden journey, a concept to create a more human habitat for our residents and to provide a calm home-like environment,” says Marina. “The main doors to the unit have a key pad and are a high-traffic area with staff and visitors coming and going. This can be a trigger for residents to try to leave the unit and creates anxiety and stress as they are testing the doors trying to open them.”
She says a lot of prior research took place before they started the project.
“We researched and consulted with other facility leaders on effective behavior modification for door testing,” Marina points out. “Painting the doors to look like a book shelf was recommended and was supported by studies in reducing exit seeking and door testing. We were really lucky to have a gifted local artist to work on the project with us.”