‘Village’ to open in July

A NEW dementia village under construction in Glenorchy is on track to open in July. It will be the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Expressions of interest for potential residents to live at the facility, to be known as Korongee, are now open. The site is next to Cosgrove High School.

THE first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, a dementia village under construction in Glenorchy is on track to open in July.

Glenview Community Services chief executive Lucy O’Flaherty acquired $19 million from Australian industry superannuation fund HESTA to build the village, to be known as Korongee, on a site owned by Glenview, next door to Cosgrove High School.

Expressions of interest for potential residents opened on May 1.

Korongee will enable dementia sufferers to live in a “small town” complete with a commercial hub with a hairdresser, cafe and supermarket, cinema, wellness centre with a gym and multiple gardens set within a suburban streetscape.

It will consist of 12 houses, all with dementia design principles, each with eight bedrooms that will be staffed by care professionals. Residents will live with people whose values they share.

“We’ve done some research with the University of Tasmania to assist us with the matching process so people who have similar values are put together rather than just mass communal living,” Ms O’Flaherty said.

“This isn’t a low-care facility – this is for people whose care needs are reasonably high.

“The central boulevard will be able to operate to have things like farmers’ markets every now and then. We’re trying to create something that resembles as much as possible life outside a dementia facility.”

Instead of carers, staff will be known as ‘lifestyle companions’.

“It’s about having that personal relationship – you’re in a household of eight people, your role is to get to know them, not just care for them – find out what makes them laugh, what makes them tick,” Ms O’Flaherty said.

The purpose-built facility has been modelled on the dementia village De Hogeweyk in the Netherlands.

“That’s a Dutch model for their community so what we’ve done is seen what works for them and left the things they’ve said not to do and looked at what it needs to look like for the Tasmanian community,” Ms O’Flaherty said.

Opening a facility for vulnerable community members in the middle of a pandemic has created extra hurdles, but none that cannot be dealt with, she said.

“We’ll be moving residents in at a much slower rate than ordinarily, but we’re hoping we can open with six to eight residents,” she said.

“We had a massive launch planned, but that’s OK we’ll do this in spite of COVID-19 in a safe way.”