A Little Dutch Village

I will be participating in the BC Alzheimer Society's Walk for Memories on 01 May 2016.  This is my fourth year and I am motivated.  Despite some mobility issues, I walk as far as possible with a team called the New Vista Striders as we raise money in support of research and programmes for people with dementia.  Many of the team members are nurses or care aids from New Vista which is where my mother lives.  You see, my mother has dementia and is now 100% dependant on the care aids literally for everything . . . dressing, eating, toileting, you name it.  She occasionally gets a word out, but rarely.  At one point, it was gibberish.  Now it is mostly silence.

It is very difficult to watch a loved one die a little bit everyday.  Many residents don't have visitors, not even family! How sad is that?  So when I visit my mother, I also visit with others or act as an additional set of eyes for staff when they are making rounds.  This is another way I support the team.

This article is from November 2014 and is as valid today as it was then.  I was reminded at church today of this little Dutch village where the prime requirement to move there is that one must have dementia.  This village builds on dignity and respect for every resident.    We need to remember that everyone has a story and not forget that.

When Yvonne van Amerongen received a phone call from her mother two decades ago, relaying that her father had died of a heart attack—sudden and painless—one of the first things she thought was, Thank God he never had to be in a nursing home.

Van Amerongen was working as a staff member at a traditional Dutch nursing home at the time, getting a front-line view of what she never wanted for her parents. That call from her mother spurred Yvonne into action as she became committed to making nursing homes more livable and less of a departure from reality for their residents. She envisioned a setup as far away as possible from the nondescript buildings and polished floors of her workplace, where everything carried the scent of a dentist’s medical cabinet. Over the next 20 years, she worked to secure the funding she’d need to make the idea a reality.

Today, the isolated village of Hogewey lies on the outskirts of Amsterdam in the small town of Wheesp. Dubbed “Dementia Village” by CNN, Hogewey is a cutting-edge elderly-care facility—roughly the size of 10 football fields—where residents are given the chance to live seemingly normal lives. With only 152 inhabitants, it’s run like a more benevolent version of The Truman Show, if The Truman Show were about dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. Like most small villages, it has its own town square, theater, garden, and post office. Unlike typical villages, however, this one has cameras monitoring residents every hour of every day, caretakers posing in street clothes, and only one door in and out of town, all part of a security system designed to keep the community safe. Friends and family are encouraged to visit. Some come every day. Last year, CNN reported that residents at Hogewey require fewer medications, eat better, live longer, and appear more joyful than those in standard elderly-care facilities.

Please click through The Atlantic for more about this little Dutch village.

 

Hogewey even has a supermarket where residents can pick up ingredients for cooking at home. They are all allowed to shop on their own, regardless of whether they forget their money or buy impractical items.

Residents also help with daily house work. In this photo a resident folds her laundry on the dining room table.

Special attention is also paid to comfortable decorating in Hogewey. A spot in the facility costs about 5,000 euros per month, a sum comparable to conventional convalescent homes that is paid by Dutch health insurers.

These pictures are taken from an article in Spiegel Online International.  

In my opinion, this should be the type of care offered all dementia patients world wide.  So far it is in Holland with another in planning in Switzerland.