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“Dementiaville”: The Nursing Home Village

While people living with dementia struggle to recall current events, they may remember the past rather well. That’s why Switzerland is experimenting with a small 1950s village that will serve as the home for people with dementia. Residents will be able to travel throughout the town wherever they please and caretakers will be disguised as gardeners, hair stylists and other neighborhood workers. The only restriction on the residents is that they can’t actually leave town. 

The idea is that if Alzheimer’s patients live in a setting that seems familiar to them, they will have a much easier time coping with the disease. Perhaps they won’t be prone to the anger that patients often suffer while trying to figure out what’s going on in their immediate surroundings. 

A similar approach has already been used in Holland, and the experiment seems to be working well so far.

(via MentalFloss)