A Town Only for People with Dementia?
Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan has written a story about an interesting town in Holland, An Amazing Village Designed Just for People with Dementia where, according to the author “in the small town of Weesp, in Holland—that bastion of social progressivism—at a dementia-focused living center called De Hogeweyk, aka Dementiavillage, the relationship between patients and their care is serving as a model for the rest of the world.”
The website for the village offers the following (you need to translate it into English if you don’t read Dutch) and makes it clear that we are not talking about a structure but instead “a self-contained village”:
One section of the website describes the concept, “[l]iving in life spheres. A reflection of recognizable lifestyles in today’s society” as:
Hogeweyk (Hogewey’s nursing home) is a specially designed residential area with 23 homes where 152 demented elderly with a nursing home-indication, in lifestyle living. There are 7 lifestyles: City, Goois, domestic, Christian, traditional, Indian and cultural. Together with a permanent team of employees perform the residents their own household. This is how it’s cooked daily in every home, crops, etc. Daily shopping in the supermarket of the Hogeweyk done. Hogeweyk offers its dementia maximum privacy and independence. In the district are streets, squares, courtyards and a small park where residents can safely walk in freedom. As in each district has Hogeweyk several amenities including a restaurant, a café and a theatre. These features are there for the residents of the Hogeweyk and for the residents of the area: everyone is welcome!
Another section Architecture for Protected Living explains:
The public spaces and area surrounding the houses are important for the Hogeweyk design. These spaces have qualities found in historical villages and cities. A variety of blocks has been designed to build the plan. Squares, streets, gardens, buildings, water and objects were designed create a recognizable atmosphere. The architecture of the houses corresponds with the interior spaces as well as the public spaces, making the architecture serve as an intermediary between the different scales.
It is important to look at the village website to see photos and floor plans of the village to get a better sense of how it works. According to the article, the village opened in 2009 and was covered in a story published in the NY Times in 2012. FYI, both of the above quotes from the Village website were translated into English by software.