Innovation of dementia villages a win for seniors

Vibrancy and community are the goals, Jo-Ann Tait writes.

Providence Health Care provides compassionate care for hundreds of people with dementia at its five residential care homes. It is gratifying, therefore, to see news about dementia villages on the horizon for both Vancouver and Langley receive the attention this important story deserves. The emergence of multiple dementia village-like residential care homes across Canada is a significant triumph for families and loved ones struggling with this disease.

As Providence plans to bring to Vancouver a large-scale, publicly funded dementia village, we welcome the prior existence and ongoing development of these forward-thinking and transformative residential care homes in other jurisdictions — many of which have paved the way for ours, and share some or most of the qualities of the De Hogeweyk, Netherlands dementia village.

Providence’s proposed dementia village will provide care and treatment for people with dementia of a variety of means. Upholding the spirit of compassion of the founding Catholic Sisters, Providence looks after some of Vancouver’s most vulnerable populations, including in its residential care homes, and will continue to do so in the dementia village.

Planned for the former St. Vincent’s Hospital site at Heather Street and West 33rd Avenue, the dementia village will emulate many aspects of the Dutch model, such as smaller households for residents who share a common bond with each other. The entire perimeter will be secured using creative structure and technology so residents can easily venture outside as much as they like. Providence’s goal is to create vibrancy and an authentic sense of community with amenities that are actual destinations and points of interest for people and their families to enjoy, including a grocery store, pub, and music room.

Many people may be surprised to know that Providence actually began taking steps years ago toward realization of this important vision of a dementia village by implementing within existing residential care homes the unique kinds of programs and services that one would find in the De Hogeweyk dementia village. In a lot of cases, once our physical infrastructure is completed, it will simply be a matter of moving the services over. Providence is, in fact, advancing ahead of the Dutch model and preparing for the future by adding services that don’t yet exist even in De Hogeweyk.

For example, at Providence’s Youville Residence, a care home predominantly dedicated to people with dementia, we already have in place a Montessori education centre. Together the staff from the school and home have created programs that lend vibrancy to the atmosphere, giving our residents with dementia the opportunity to be in the presence of children, their activity and laughter.

Unlike De Hogeweyk, our new dementia village will offer multiple levels of care to many more people with dementia. De Hogeweyk has 152 residents, all of whom are in residential care. Providence’s dementia village will have 62 people in assisted living, seven in supported housing, plus more than 300 in residential care. People with dementia will not have to go very far when their needs progress because they will be on the same site.

Research has shown that person-centred dementia care not only optimizes quality of life for people with dementia, it can actually foster positive outcomes for people afflicted by a disease normally steeped in fear and confusion.

In 15 years, the number of Canadians living with dementia is expected to nearly double, making an expansive embrace of the De Hogeweyk model and beyond more crucial than ever. What that model has shown Providence and the world is an indisputable win, a tangible way of bringing back optimism into the lives of people impacted by dementia where optimism was once only a distant memory. Home is a feeling and, thanks to a person-centred and inventive approach, it now has the bonus of hope.

What that model has shown … is an indisputable win, a tangible way of bringing back optimism to the lives of people impacted by dementia.