Most people would never dream of disguising a door, but doors sometimes present challenges to those who are dealing with dementia, as well as their caregivers. Such was the case at Trinity Living Center.

“We have always had an issue with our participants gathering at the door to wait on their ride or even just wanting to know what’s going on out there,” said Christina Joyce, executive director at Trinity Living Center in Salisbury, which provides adult day services in Salisbury.

This obsession with the door can be unrelenting and often becomes worse in the afternoon.

“Many times there is no redirecting that works,” Joyce says.  “We’ve tried many different things, including trying to have the afternoon activity in the media room or towards the TV area so everyone will be away from the door. But people just seem fixated on it.”

TLC staff member Patty Messick came across a website that featured “door disguises,” designed for long-term care facilities. The doors were painted in the “trompe l’oeuil” style, which presents a three-dimensional scene to fool the eye.

“We were all in awe of the transformations of the doors we were seeing,” Joyce said. The TLC staff began wondering if a door disguise would help staff be able to do their jobs without constantly trying to bring people away from the door and also help reduce participants’ fixation on when their loved ones were arriving.

Joyce began to look for an artist who might be able to transform the door, and as she searched, she kept coming back to a mural at the Mambo Grill. She got in touch with the Fisher Street restaurant and learned that artist Randall Kane had done them.

She got in touch with Kane, who got on board with the project right away and was able to get Trinity Living Center’s door on his schedule quickly. Joyce submitted a grant application (with funds coming from LSC employee donations) to pay for the cost of the project, which was approved.

Kane, who lives in Charlotte, worked evenings and weekends to avoid interrupting the daily TLC routine.

A professional artist for 15 years, Kane did some research about “exit diversion” doors. He then identified the elements he wanted to feature, including a table, a vase of flowers, and books, and submitted a proposal.

One of Kane’s challenges was how to incorporate the door’s vertical windows. TLC wanted to keep the windows so that those on the outside could still see in. So Kane came up with the idea of incorporating the windows as a mirror by painting a frame around them and covering the glass with reflective window film. While participants and staff can’t be distracted by what’s outside, loved ones coming to pick up participants can observe unobtrusively.

Kane’s background isn’t what one might expect. He waited tables for 25 years, he said, and for a time he worked at Disneyland, playing the characters of Eeyore and Prince Charming.

As an artist, he’s self-taught. Once he started doing murals for friends and co-workers, word of mouth led to plenty of work, in both private homes as well as businesses. He also does interior design and plans weddings.

“I love what I do,” Kane says. “My job is different every single day.”

For more information about the services offered by Trinity Living Center, call 704-637-3940.

 

Katie Scarvey is a communications specialist for Lutheran Services Carolinas.