Lately I've found my mother sitting in her AL room with no lights on other than a desk lamp where she is working on sorting her beads. I always open the shades and turn on lights when I go over, but it doesn't seem to bother her one way or another. I don't want to complain to anyone yet since the AL has been wonderful in all aspects of caring for her. I'm wondering if any of you have a take on lighting and if perhaps this is meant to be a calming thing or simple negligence?
It depends on the person and their condition.
With TBI, Doctors advise limited stimulation, such as low lighting, low noise level, not too many visitors in the room at one time, etc.
And for some dementia patients, the darkness and dark shadows can be seen as scary and induce hallucinations.
One more tip: My husband was sundowning, and I found online advice that helped immediately (in his case. Again, it depends on the person). I personally like low lighting, so I would have most of the lights out, except for one source of dim lighting. The advice was to keep the room well lit, including the surrounding spaces, such as down the hall, the kitchen, areas that are within sight. The idea is to create a bright, cheery environment, reduce the confusion they might experience from dark shadows, and hide the fact that it is evening. So, I turned on all the lights and would close the drapes before it started to get dark outside.
That helped the first time I tried it.
I give all these different answers because your mother's needs may change as her condition progresses. Just recognize what makes her comfortable and go with it!