Dementia Village...Where People Have Dementia – And Fun!

Excuse me for including some CNN bits and bytes here but I was on Google for some reason I can’t even remember and this article caught my eye enough to delve into the abyss of CNN to see what “Dementia Village” was all about. With a title like that wouldn’t you?

So off I went for a quick look-see and couldn’t stop reading. I had to search this out a little more.

I found that CNN is actually a year behind on the story but with everything else going on in the Health Industry, Obamacare etc, why bother with what another Country is doing that actually works and benefits the people right? At least until now.
And what I have read is nothing short of amazing to see. Well, at least for me it is. www.guardian.co.uk...

In short, a revolutionary approach for caring for those with dementia. Worldwide, 35.6 million people have dementia, according to the World Health Organization, with 7.7 million new cases being diagnosed every year. At that rate, the number of people with dementia is expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2050.

"What happened," says Isabel van Zuthem, Hogewey's information officer, sitting at a cafe table on the home's wide and welcoming piazza, an ornamental fountain playing behind her, "is that back in 1992, when this was still a traditional nursing home for people with dementia – you know: six storeys, anonymous wards, locked doors, crowded dayrooms, non-stop TV, central kitchen, nurses in white coats, heavy medication – two of the staff who worked here unexpectedly lost their mothers.
"Each said to the other: Well, at least it happened quickly, and they didn't end up here; this place is so horrible. Then they realised what they'd just said, and started to think: what kind of home would we like for a relative with dementia? Where might we want to live, maybe, one day? How would we like our life to be; what would we hope to experience?”

www.guardian.co.uk...

This is what our elderly deserve. Respect, kindness and a continued quality of life even after it becomes impossible to give that care at home.

Hogewey has 25 clubs, from folksong to baking, literature to bingo, painting to cycling. It also encourages residents to keep up the day-to-day tasks they have always done: gardening, shopping, peeling potatoes, shelling the peas, doing the washing, folding the laundry, going to the hairdresser, popping to the cafe. "Those small, everyday acts are just vital," says Van Zuthem. "They stimulate; give people the feeling they still have a life."
The homes belong to seven different "lifestyle categories": not periods frozen in time, such as the 50s or 60s, but more moods evoked through choice of furnishing, decoration, music, even food. One is gooise, or Dutch upper class – all ornate chandeliers, lace tablecloths, fine dark reproduction furniture, and a kitchen discreetly concealed behind a screen; here, says Isabel, "the carers behave like servants. Many of the people who are here will have had a maid."

'Dementia Village' - as it has become known -- is a place where residents can live a seemingly normal life, but in reality are being watched all the time. Caretakers staff the restaurant, grocery store, hair salon and theater -- although the residents don't always realize they are carers -- and are also watching in the residents' living quarters.
Residents are allowed to roam freely around the courtyard-like grounds with its landscaped trees, fountains and benches -- but they can't leave the premises.
Their two-story dormitory-style homes form a perimeter wall for the village, meaning there is no way a resident can accidentally wander out.
And if they do approach the one exit door, a staffer will politely suggest the door is locked and propose another route.

A great post on CNN from a reader. Yeah I know it’s CNN but it’s relevant to the article.

"Could this innovative model work in other countries?"
Not in the USA, it won't. Here the whole idea behind our health care system, even for the elderly, is maximizing profit for some company, usually multiple companies, in the chain from patient to caregiver. As long as we continue to believe that for-profit health care is a good idea, we're doomed to remain far behind the rest of the industrialized world in quality of health care. In nearly every category, from mortality and infant mortality to cost and effectiveness, the USA ranks behind nearly every European, so-called socialist, health care system.
It's outrageous, but we've been brainwashed since birth here to believe that as long as someone is making a profit, it must be a good thing.

While many see the benefits, some are not convinced and actually compare it to the “Trueman Show”. I can see where this has a certain similarity but is it truly the same? I don’t believe so.
No one is watching them for entertainment purposes. And yes, this is coming from CNN a year after the original article here:
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/27/dementia-village-residents-have-fun
www.cnn.com...

In some ways, this is similar to the manufactured reality depicted in the movie "The Truman Show," where a man played by Jim Carrey discovers his entire life is actually a TV program. Everything he thinks is real is in fact a mirage, created by television producers for the viewing public's entertainment.
Van Amerongen dismisses any accusations that she and her staff are duping their residents. "We have a real society here," she says. "I don't think people feel fooled. They feel fooled if we just tell them a story that's not true and they know it. We're not telling stories."

I can truly say one thing here.

If myself or a relative were to be diagnosed with dementia and this type of care was available...I already know my preference.

Peace

reply to post by jude11


Interesting concept... though I would definitely question his use of the word "severe"

This Idea is much better then the usual facility for dementia care... which is more like a Beautiful Prison ...

S&F

Its nice to see people trying to find solutions to these issues

Originally posted by Akragon
reply to post by jude11

 

Interesting concept... though I would definitely question his use of the word "severe"

This Idea is much better then the usual facility for dementia care... which is more like a Beautiful Prison ...

S&F

Its nice to see people trying to find solutions to these issues

edit on 13-7-2013 by Akragon because: (no reason given)

Absolutely,

At least some are trying to change something that just isn't working on so many levels. Many just take the approach of "It works...so that's enough"

Well we all know that if nothing changes....nothing changes.

Peace

Could you imagine asking for directions there on a trip you're taking?

reply to post by jude11


I was a certified caregiver and during my training I was taught to 'play along' with people who have dementia or alzheimer's. We were told not to correct the people but to indulge them in their fantasy. I found this very odd at first but it was explained that most patients would never recover and many would get worse. The theory was not to argue needlessly because it would only upset the patient.

After a few months working at a facility that treated mostly alzheimer's patients I decided to pursue a different line of work. At times I felt like I was losing my mind. Sometimes I feel that way when I spend too much time on ATS.

S&F OP, this is an excellent article and video.

As an older person with no Alzheimer and minimal dementia in my family I don't expect it to happen to me but from the time I was in my 30's, 40's, not sure, I have advocated that elderly people need to be able to maintain their dignity and feel the respect they deserve for the long life they have lived and the wisdom they have imparted. This seems to be an environment that at least allows the dignity and respect while living a semi normal life.

The sad part of Dementia and Alzheimer's is that the people who need the help are the caregivers who stay with such. The reality is that the caregivers, as they sacrifice everything for the person that they love and care for. They give up much of their lives to do the right thing without much assistance, even at the point of their health.
What many people do not understand, and there is not a lot out there, is what the person with this condition goes through.
CNN did another video, and that is: Experience 12 minutes of Alzheimer's. (www.youtube.com...)
It is an eye opening video, that and the book the 36 hour day, as it also goes into what is going on with a person suffering from dementia.

reply to post by sdcigarpig

The sad part of Dementia and Alzheimer's is that the people who need the help are the caregivers who stay with such.

Actually that isn't always the case...

Its actually a pleasure working with them, when you actually have the time to spend...

In most places theres just so many residents there's little to no time to talk or get to know these people...

The sad thing is that most places are a business... people are a commodity in that business...

and unfortunately its more about the money then the care

Originally posted by liveandlearn

S&F OP, this is an excellent article and video.

As an older person with no Alzheimer and minimal dementia in my family I don't expect it to happen to me but from the time I was in my 30's, 40's, not sure, I have advocated that elderly people need to be able to maintain their dignity and feel the respect they deserve for the long life they have lived and the wisdom they have imparted. This seems to be an environment that at least allows the dignity and respect while living a semi normal life.

Absolutely agree with these statements.

To have quality of life in the last years is something that not everyone will experience if sick. Too many are just not able to care for these people properly.

This story was a lift in my Day.

Peace

reply to post by jude11


I wonder if dementia is related to a person not being able to keep up with pressures of life and so the mental thought processes within the brain start to shut down.

Is the world THIS chaotic?

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011
reply to post by jude11

 

I wonder if dementia is related to a person not being able to keep up with pressures of life and so the mental thought processes within the brain start to shut down.

Is the world THIS chaotic?

Come to think of it, there do seem to be quite a few less then stable people here on ATS as of late. Not excluding myself of course.

But you make a good point. More and more instability in the World...News pushed at us from the global stage of wars, death, banks, financial, religious, govt, cover-ups like no other....

Maybe some just can't cope as much as others and shut down. Not all at once like a breakdown but maybe in stages.

I don't know, just reaching but I see something in your point here.

Peace

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by Skywatcher2011
reply to post by jude11

 

I wonder if dementia is related to a person not being able to keep up with pressures of life and so the mental thought processes within the brain start to shut down.

Is the world THIS chaotic?

But you make a good point. More and more instability in the World...News pushed at us from the global stage of wars, death, banks, financial, religious, govt, cover-ups like no other....

Maybe some just can't cope as much as others and shut down. Not all at once like a breakdown but maybe in stages.

Well there seems to be a correlation between dementia and its stages of development and instability in the world too as it continues to be more unstable...in stages. Could this be a conspiracy between NWO causing world and economic instability, stress in life, Big Pharma tapping in to cure mental illnesses related to these stressors in life, thus ultimately causing the human mind to be more confused as we move forward into the future?

I just subscribed to this thread so that I can read it in detail. My mother has dementia so much so that myself and my sister are her legal guardians. I spend innumerable hours researching how to "make her happy and content". It's tough!
Thank you for bringing up this information.

Half the people that they say have dementia really don't. They are just enjoying life after they retire, then their kids ruin it by taking them to the doctors because they purposely do not want to take the meds they got shoved on. It's easier to say that you forgot to your kids. Trouble is, the kids aren't smart enough to figure it out, they won't believe their parents when they say the pills make them feel funny.

reply to post by jude11


Amazing. Thank you. Exactly where I want to be if that happens to me.

S&F&