Dementia-Friendly Door Signs

Choosing dementia friendly door signs

A door sign has one job: to tell the person standing in front of a door what is behind it, in a way they can take in at a glance. In a care home that person may be a resident living with dementia, a visitor on their first day or agency staff on a night shift. This guide sets out what to look for in a dementia friendly door sign, where to put it, and what we make, so you can order for one room or for a whole home.

What makes a door sign dementia friendly

• Contrast, three ways. The lettering should stand out clearly from the panel, and the panel from the door it is fixed to. A pale sign on a pale door can disappear, however good the lettering is, so choose the finish with the door colour in mind.
• A picture and the word together. A clear, realistic picture of what is in the room, such as a toilet, a bed or a cup of tea, sits beside the word for it. Dementia design guidance commonly prefers a realistic picture to an abstract symbol, with the word there to confirm it.
• Large, plain lettering. A plain sans-serif typeface in a generous size, in upper and lower case rather than all capitals, with one or two words rather than a sentence.
• A surface that does not shine. Look for a matt or low-sheen finish: a glossy panel under corridor lighting can reflect a bright patch across the very words it carries.
• The same sign in the same place. Use one style of sign for every room and fix each one in the same position on every door, so people learn where to look.

Where to fix a door sign

Common guidance is to fix the sign on the door itself, or on the wall beside the latch side of the door, so it is still seen when the door stands open. Put it at eye level for the people who use the room: in a home where many residents use wheelchairs or walk with a stoop, that is lower than a standing adult's eye line, so check with the people who will read it before you fix a whole corridor. Keep signs clear of door closers, handles and push plates, and fix them at the same height throughout. If your building has its own specification, follow that first.

Sizes, finishes and options we make

Our door signs are 228 x 228 mm acrylic panels with a UV textured 3D print of the picture and the lettering. Double-sided tape for fixing is supplied with every sign. A standard door sign starts at $65.00.

• Eight finishes: Oak, Walnut, White Pine, Carolina Blue, Garnet Red, Heather Purple, Sage Brown, Veridian Green. Choose against the colour of your doors: a darker finish on a pale door, a paler one on a dark door.
• 48 rooms in every finish, from Bedroom, Toilet, Bathroom and Shower to Dining Room, Living Room, Garden, Hairdresser, Lift, Stairs and Exit.
• Your own wording of up to 30 characters, for a room your home names its own way.
• Braille & Tactile: an option on every door sign, chosen on the product page. See braille and tactile signs.
• Bedroom doors: our personalised bedroom sign holds a paper insert behind the front panel with the resident's name and a photo, which you change yourself when someone new moves in.

To see a sign with your own room and wording before you buy, use the sign designer, or ask for a free sample to hold against your own doors.

Choosing rooms for a whole home

Walk the building once with a floor plan and list every door a resident or visitor might need to find: each bedroom, the toilets and bathrooms nearest them, the dining and living rooms, the garden door, the lift and stairs. Then add the doors you would rather people passed by, such as stores and offices, and decide whether they need a sign at all. Where a room is out of sight, a directional sign on the corridor in the same finish carries the same picture and word to it.

For more than a handful of rooms, our order form lets you list the rooms for a home and send them to us for a price. Our care home signage page covers the rest of the range and how to price a whole building.

Accreditation

Our Toilet door sign was listed in 2018 with a 1A rating in the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC, University of Stirling) directory of accredited products. That listing names one product, so it is fair to ask any supplier, us included, which product a certificate covers. What DSDC accreditation means.

Door sign questions

More on shipping and signage for care groups.