A home care company is offering a powerful experience designed to help people better understand what it’s like to live with dementia.

Right at Home Guildford & Farnham, tucked away in The White Barn in Runfold, supports families and helps individuals maintain their independence so they can continue living comfortably in their own homes.

The team works with clients who have dementia, helping them rediscover basic skills such as making a cup of tea or doing the washing.

To highlight the struggles faced by people with dementia, they created an immersive experience offering a glimpse into what living with the condition can feel like.

Creator of the experience, Adriana Medonca, said: “We had one woman who after they tried the experience was so emotional and in tears because she finally understood why her mother would get frustrated and fed up at times.

“The experience helps families understand their loved ones but it also brings people together to support each other.”

Participants are asked to complete a series of simple tasks without any aids, while their mental and physical senses are restricted to simulate the stress and pressure felt by someone with dementia.

Participants wear various weights, including a heavy chest plate similar to those used by the armed forces, along with ankle and wrist weights to make walking and picking things up more difficult. Add to that blurred vision and limited hearing, and even the simplest tasks become a challenge.

Very quickly, participants begin to feel fatigued. Even activities like pairing socks, making a bed, or laying the table become exhausting.

This, in turn, can make it hard to remember what task you were doing in the first place. Frustration, confusion, and lethargy soon set in—and this, the team says, helps people gain a deeper understanding of what dementia can feel like.