A dementia village is a small, contained community built for people living with dementia. Dementia villages are complete with supermarkets, cafes, and other buildings that make memory patients feel like they are participating in normal life. The facilities increased in popularity in the 2010s.
Memory facilities have increased in the twenty-first century as as dementia cases rise worldwide.[1] The World Health Organization expects the number of memory patients to reach 78 million by 2030, more than twice the number of cases that there were in 2009.[1]
Notable examples
editDementia villages are nostalgic environments, built specifically for memory care patients, that appear more homey than hospitals.[2]
The first notable dementia village is The Hogeweyk, a four-acre property opened in 2009 in the Amsterdam suburb of Weesp. It is funded by the Dutch government and currently serves 188 residents in 27 houses. The 2020 World Alzheimer Report called it a “paradigm shifter."[1] In The Hogeweyk, residents have freedom to live a seemingly-normal life, complete with errands like shopping or going to the hair salon, all while being watched by trained caretakers.[3] CNN wrote that one Hogeweyk resident "may not know exactly where she is, but she always feels right at home. That’s precisely the idea."[3]
The Hogeweyk inspired a similar facilities in Europe, including the Village Landais in Dax, France.[4] Another dementia village is called Carpe Diem, build by the Nordic Office of Architecture. It has 136 communal housing units and 22 high-care units.[1]
NewDirection Care at Bellmere in Australia includes a corner store, cafes, a salon, and a movie theatre.[1]
The United States' only dementia village is in South Bend, Indiana. One 105-capacity facility set for Holmdel, New Jersey is in development.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Plockova, Joann (2023-07-03). "As Cases Soar, 'Dementia Villages' Look Like the Future of Home Care". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ MacFarquhar, Larissa (2018-10-01). "The Comforting Fictions of Dementia Care". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ a b Tinker, Ben (2013-07-11). "'Dementia village' inspires new care". CNN. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
- ^ Renault, Marion (2022-11-23). "A French Village's Radical Vision of a Good Life with Alzheimer's". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-11-25.