dementia village

This is a concept for the care of people with dementia that keeps them safe while allowing a certain degree of independent living.  The idea was pioneered in the Netherlands but we have our first dementia village now in Hobart.

 The village is planned so that a small group of people live in each unit, a style of living which suits those with dementia better than the big nursing homes.  The people in each unit are matched in terms of shared interests and cultural background. The cluster of units creates a small-town feeling, a small town in which there is a lot of colour coding to assist the residents in finding their way back to their own home. There are also memory boxes out the front of the houses so that the resident can be reassured, by recognising some of their belongings, that they actually live there.  The paths slope but have no stairs. There are facilities such as a hairdresser’s shop, a cafe and a small supermarket.  The emphasis is on presenting life as normal rather than institutionalised so the staff are dressed in civvies rather than uniforms as they help the residents.