Dementiavillage
February 28, 2014 8:29 AM   Subscribe

De Hogeweyk is a self-contained dementia-focused living centre, complete with restaurants, cafes, a supermarket, gardens, a pedestrian boulevard, and much more.
posted by gman (15 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
I heard about this! It is both sad and sweet. And kind.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:32 AM on February 28, 2014


what a fantastic idea.
posted by xbonesgt at 8:34 AM on February 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


What Hogeweyk reveals, though, is the culturally-ingrained way we distinguish between those who do and don't suffer from dementia. By treating residents as normal people, Hogeweyk seems to suggest that there isn't such a huge difference, deep down—just differing needs. By designing a city tailored to those unique needs, residents avoid the dehumanization that long-term medical care can unintentionally cause.

This. What if in a small community, non-dementia sufferers would be told of those with dementia, so we'd recognize them when we see them and adjust our expectations & interactions accordingly. 'It takes a village' mentality.

Great article. 'Bus stop to nowhere' for those patients who like to wander is a nice touch of environmental engineering. Thanks for posting!
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:42 AM on February 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


As a point of information, the cost is ~€5,000/month, which is about $7,000USD. While expensive, it is comparable to more traditional (quality) dementia care wards.
posted by Candleman at 9:13 AM on February 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


This is astonishingly great thing. I've heard about the bus-stop bit before, but never the whole village.
posted by jquinby at 9:26 AM on February 28, 2014


As a point of information, the cost is ~€5,000/month, which is about $7,000USD.

Crivens. If it ever costs seven grand a month of someone else's money to keep me alive and happy, just put me on an ice floe. My life isn't worth that much.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:27 AM on February 28, 2014


A friend of mine is currently researching nursing homes for his grandfather. The most reasonably priced moderately reputable place he's found so far is $12,000 a month.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:30 AM on February 28, 2014


Was it on MeFi that I read about the Scandinavian home for dementia sufferers that solved their problem with runaways by installing a fake bus stop out front with a camera trained on it? That was an elegant and simple way to help, I thought.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:12 AM on February 28, 2014


A friend of mine is currently researching nursing homes for his grandfather. The most reasonably priced moderately reputable place he's found so far is $12,000 a month.

It's a bit apple to oranges to compare nursing home costs in a country with a full social safety net and health care to one without. What is and isn't covered in these places is a bit too opaque to know if you can make straight comparisons.

Crivens. If it ever costs seven grand a month of someone else's money to keep me alive and happy, just put me on an ice floe. My life isn't worth that much.

It might already 'cost' that much if you factor in all the infrastructure of daily life that invisibly surrounds you and upaid caring that made you who you are, the pensions of the people who run/maintain everything and the surge in end of life medical care casts.

Plus there is the cost of putting you on that ice-flow. That isn't free either.

I like this idea and people already naturally gravitate to these kinds of arrangements. There are trailer parks full of Canadian seniors who create environments like this in Florida every winter but I have no idea if it is better financially or therapeutically. It just seems kind of nice.
posted by srboisvert at 10:33 AM on February 28, 2014


Most of the people I've known with Alzheimer's are quite competent at daily tasks like cleaning, food preparation, etc., at least until they get to the later stages of the disease. So an environment where they get to help out with the chores makes all kinds of sense.
posted by beagle at 11:41 AM on February 28, 2014


Not to get all RTFA on you DirtyOldTown, but the article mentions this German nursing home doing that if that's what you're remembering.
posted by DynamiteToast at 12:19 PM on February 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yes, the cost isn't bad. When I was researching them for my aunt - and remember, Americans, nursing and dementia home care isn't covered by Medicare! So you might want to consider investing in long term care insurance now; your children will thank you some day. - the average in this area was about $80,000 a year. That's BEFORE meals. And BEFORE having someone help them with their meds. And BEFORE a whole bunch of other things, probably, but I couldn't take any more and stopped researching.
posted by mygothlaundry at 2:34 PM on February 28, 2014


Plus there is the cost of putting you on that ice-flow. That isn't free either.

While there are still glaciers to calve off icebergs, while not free, it's not a showstopper. However, as the climate continues to change and the supply of glaciers dries up, the economics will shift considerably.
posted by mikelieman at 11:44 AM on March 1, 2014


"Who is number 1?"

"You are, number 6."

"I am not a number, I am a free man!!"

posted by Renoroc at 6:27 AM on March 2, 2014


How was this not obvious? Seriously. Sometimes, it seems we celebrate things as amazing that seem completely obvious. Such concepts have been alive and well in other care facilities for decades.
posted by Goofyy at 11:40 PM on March 2, 2014


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