The "dementia village" that's redefining elder care | Yvonne van Amerongen

How would you prefer to spend the last years of your life: in a sterile, hospital-like institution or in a village with a supermarket, pub, theater and park within easy walking distance? The answer seems obvious now, but when Yvonne van Amerongen helped develop the groundbreaking Hogeweyk dementia care center in Amsterdam 25 years ago, it was seen as a risky break from tradition. Journey with van Amerongen to Hogeweyk and get a glimpse at what a reimagined nursing home based on freedom, meaning and social life could look like.
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[@jimquinndallas]

After being around a couple of people who suffered from dementia, I find this to be a revolutionary project! The fact that the Hogeweyk center can provide all this yet stay within state-budgeted funds is simply wonderful. The mean-spirited comments here are disappointing to see especially for those of us who are senior citizens who may be in this sort of position sooner or later. I believe that what goes around, comes around and I wouldn't wish dementia upon anyone. It truly is nothing to joke about.

[@jewelrymaker141]

May we see these kind of villages popping up Everywhere! 💞

[@calliehazlewood2710]

I really pray so ❤

[@augustvalek]

Dementia is an increasing health issue nowadays, specially with longer life spans, and the work you are doing here is beautiful

[@khanansari1975]

Dr can you share a reliable note on Alzheimer's dementia and other brain diseases?

[@stewarttaylor5522]

What a wonderful and beautiful way to treat our elders. Respect and love is what they want. Remember that they were once people like us and just getting on with life. You have done an wonderful thing in creating that place. Thank you 🙏

[@TheRealKatsunov]

as a grandchild who met my grandfather once for the first and last time as a teen this made me cry... i wish that this project grows more all around the globe, i still have faith in humanity

[@tashuys]

What a truly inspiring idea! I'm in the process of qualifying as a Health Care Worker and have worked in an old age home as part of my training. It is really heartbreaking to witness the effect of constant confusion on someone, and the fear that goes along with it. The waiting for someone to come and take them home, away from this place. I hope to come across a similar workplace at some point, where real progress is made and best practices can be established.

[@emilyb3176]

Good luck on qualifying, I'm a health care assistant and activities coordinator, it's amazing, challenging & heartbreakingly beautiful work. Check out teepa snow on yt, she has great webinars on how to care for advanced dementia as well. I wish I could work at a place like this too

[@Kongolox]

Thank you Yvonne :) And this should be standardized in every major city in the world.

[@juliameyer3275]

it absolutely blows my mind and fills my heart with so much joy and hope for the world that something like this exists! in the darkest of times, there are things like this that just shine through brighter than the rest ! i love love love it

[@PixiePadlock]

Thank you for your hard work. You are doing amazing work for the people and humanity 💜✨😭

[@MrTommy4000]

Anger is dimentias shadow. Caregivers need to be aware that the anger is not personal. It's more about the frustration in lucid moments in realizing that you're slipping further and further away.

[@mhtinla]

The village is beautiful. I want to move there.

[@SD-tj5dh]

So many run down estates in the UK with no work opportunities and just sit there boarded up and rotting. They could easily become communities for the elderly. To be fair they could become communities for anyone again. But private landlords and a profit only objective ruins everything.

[@mr.e8245]

D S Thousands of empty homes, hundreds of misc. buildings lay empty and owned by the banks. Tons of food literally thrown out everyday while others starve. Your race needs a new way, destroying yourselves and the great world around you is far from the way, Humons are lost.

[@shadowsinvortex7990]

*crumbs* bravo!!!

[@inc297]

This is definitely magical and inspiring. I think thinking out of the box can make miracles. I think the world needs more people like you who are amazing and has empathy. Wish you all the best. Stay safe and happy wonderful lady.

[@Lunareon]

There was another talk, which explained that Alzheimer's disease makes people regress into their teenage selves, and that putting patients into an environment resembling that of their teenage years helps them enormously. I wonder if this idea of dementia villages could be combined with the idea of recreating environments from the past to benefit people with various memory-related illnesses. In any case, this is such an important topic. Everyone deserves a humane old age, and the current hospital-like facilities are utterly unable to provide one.

[@V13-m2z]

Wonderful!!! God bless you all at Hogeweyk! So beautiful!🌻

[@InfidelisEra]

So beautiful, thank you do much for this talk and the work you do everyday to protect those who need it the most.

[@hannahclarke2611]

This is the best of humanity. Right here.

[@georgiehollander2199]

We NEED these in Australia..................The Dutch and Danish ones are fantastic !!!!!

[@nsjx]

Very glad you recieve standing ovation for your efforts

[@AtheistEve]

I don’t know what she means by “state budget”. In the UK, most everything for the elderly and disabled is means-tested. Nursing home care is £4000+ a month. Where I live there are no state-owned or cooperative member/worker owned care homes. It’s _all_ in the private sector.

[@nazariimatsokha4127]

Thank you for our your work.

[@kathrynsue1986]

i like to thank her for helping these elderly people not lose the will to live and for treating them like real people cause they are my great grand ma died last year cause she lost the will to live

[@kylemarquis738]

I’d like to know more about how they manage to keep the same costs while having to build and maintain all the different lifestyle residences, each with their kitchen, bathroom, shops, etc. Typical hospitals seem to centralize food production, as an example, so it would appear that this new method would be more expensive. Maybe they save on money due to better patient outcomes, I’m not sure?

[@qaammelish]

It isn't free as far as i know. If they own a property, a small amount of its value is transferred to the company when they die. This is providing they cant pay the cost up front. We have one in Ireland and that's how it works, government will pay a proportion, however, only if you cant afford it yourself. It's all means tested, at least in Ireland. Basically our whole care sector is privatized. They are running a business though. do not for one second think they aren't making money.

[@qaammelish]

we also have one ireland, it is brilliant.

[@LeslieDeCosier]

I worked in a memory care unit where most patients or "residents" as they were called lived in a somewhat home-like setting. they lived in single person rooms (unless married) and most rooms were furnished by their families, so it was familiar to them. I can tell you this - unless carefully supervised - a pond they featured could be extremely dangerous for someone with dementia. we also kept our kitchen (just like a regular kitchen except it included a restaurant-style drink machine) locked. the people with dementia who remembered how to not only use a door handle but to turn a lock, would accidentally grab knives, completely cover themselves in food or drink, etc and it was NOT safe! this was one of the nicer facilities in my area (southeastern United States) and it was roughly $7,000 USD PER MONTH. most insurance did not cover this. so, this is only for the very rich or people who have rich children lol. in my opinion, a place like this would be much better for a regular assisted living facility.

[@anaml3879]

Amazing setting. This what we need for the elderly that strugle to find company even by close family members. Hopefully one day this will be the setting of many nursing homes.

[@bebaperez212]

I love it!!! This is a genial idea!!! Congratulations! This is amazing!! Thank you for making their lives so easy happy!

[@TheVwbich]

This is beautiful. Although woman are 1/3 more likely to get late onset dementia, not because they are able to care for their husbands. I hope everyone will take this idea and implament it in their cities

[@VioletEmerald]

Women are much more likely to become widows than men because men die younger

[@sawuni6031]

What a amazing idea!!! I have a question, in that village, they will be still confused about their-self. If someone want to do their previous work and want to productive business then how can you handle this? What should we do? Help to work again? I’m seriously wondered.

[@okaygworl]

Oh wow so like a college dormitory but for Elders. I love it and it makes sense!

[@chouca]

Bravo!

[@marynguyen4380]

wow this is beautiful & groundbreaking

[@binaseff5288]

Love you for doing this ❣ Thank you 🌹

[@ThePaperPineapple]

7:03 most upscale bar I've ever seen. 9:19 This is not for the rich. We've been doing this as any traditional nursing home as in our country we work only with state budget I think some number-fudging might be involved.

[@articstang]

how are they during the crisis , i am wondering a lot these days..any updates

[@cherriesss]

The fact that you now can wake up to an astounding environment and not a dull hospital is incredible! Every person with dementia should be able to live like this and I really hope that this association expands this village over the whole world.

[@claireghethan8918]

Beautiful

[@mufrh833]

Great , thank you.

[@rcg224]

BEAUTIFUL

[@kerryhughes5372]

Amazing Fantastic ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@stephenv5332]

I experience this problem when I had my first run in with schizophrenia I was put in good Samaritan hospital in Bakersfield CA. We where put in rooms and we could not see outside only our area we couldnt see through or over the fence we didn't know what was going on in the next room what happened is I thought the world ended and not seeing or hearing other people only made it worse I was alone with my supposed devil with nothing to go off of except the other patients and a TV that only showed a religious channel that only fueled my paranoia and loneliness I came to the point of hearing my mother die and had no other choice to believe at the time noone bothered to explain I was just another crazy guy

[@auroraaustralis5470]

Thank you family 💗🥳😇🙏🖖🌌🌏🌅

[@joygernautm6641]

I’m really curious how the vet the people they accept into this home. The problem with dementia, as many of the people end up having violent behaviours I would assume they would have to make sure people are not like this before they would allow them there.

[@maryngshwuling9916]

A good concept for those who have dementia 🌈

[@TolstoyPlastic]

It's a great concept and it works, but it's hardly a "village", just some buildings on a fenced off terrain.. Also: very expensive. I will not be able to afford this when I'm old.. Source: I'm Dutch

[@vickeyefremidis9234]

The medical profession has no idea what they’re doing w/the elderly... my experience w/my father taught me that ! They torture them w/copious amounts of drugs ... none had empathy 🤨 and most are abusive It’s very sad

[@ursulasmith6402]

Because no one is and was prepared for the new landscape. People are becoming older. No one will be prepared. It's becoming worse.

[@NaixSumiVlogs]

Good job. Keep it up....

[@Regirs]

Jeez 0:50 yes we do. In likely 95% of cases it's called proper nutrition & lifestyle

[@DaLuke101]

That's prevention mate... different concepts

[@celestialcircledance]

She advocates small group settings so how to manage the long waiting lists ?

[@feikodelavieter7515]

more of them.

[@yousuf817]

Good

[@LieveLeysen-Discover-]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 😇

[@jmenterprise8122]

Is there anyway in which we may bring this to Africa?

[@hajarka555]

but would it actually be suitable for Alzheimer’s dementia ill people? like as the time passes their behavior mainly becomes more and more aggressive

[@feikodelavieter7515]

it is. check out the cnn doc on this home, this village has the highest patient levels

[@Azel247]

This is wonderful, but do these individuals really have "very advanced dementia?" A lot of the patients I see with very advanced dementia are no longer able to walk, eat, dress, or talk. How do we help the individuals who are at that stage of their dementia?

[@ecyoj100]

Hi Nicol, a diagnosis of dementia requires multiple tests. Most of which are Cognition test. Apart from brain scan, MMSE, PAS, RUDAS, MOCA are used to determine the level of cognition of each person. They are not based on Mobility but we connect the level of cognition to their ability to do their on ADL's. Severe Dementia can still look immaculately clean and can walk well but when you ask them certain things the most common answer is I dont know or im not sure. Then they could not sequence a task or they lack insight.

[@sueyoung2115]

This is good that patients are being nicely cared for. The cure for many degenerative diseases lies in realizing that the electrical fields from our modern life cause accumulated breakdown of our biological processes. Our bodies are electrical as well as chemical.

[@billhubeir1282]

Aw

[@bosslax3162]

Fun fact, this lady thought she was ordering at McDonalds

[@Roger7137]

Yes! Amazing! To extremally rich people.

[@mjarteaga1754]

She said this is done with state funding alone.

[@Roger7137]

@@mjarteaga1754 yes rich state with rich people. I really loved the initiative . Congrats. I am prayer to humanity grow in all aspects and every body could live well

[@mjarteaga1754]

@@Roger7137 I don't know if you're being cynical, but there could be alternatives for other dementia patients with lower incomes that don't involve completely secluding them from the outside world. When there's the will there's a way. Your implication that this can only be done for rich people is incredibly defeatist. Aside of prayer, work gets people places. If someone puts their mind to it and builds the right connections, it can become a reality. Only then will humanity grow and manage achieve a good life for everyone.

[@Roger7137]

@@mjarteaga1754 I am really concerned about how provide for everybody a good life. Really, trully! How each one that borned here could be well? More than 4 billion people live with low awareness and 1 person in 200.000.000 maybe can access good treatments at the end of life. Serious way. How we can really help each others? World fund! World health, world friend! No more Venezuelas, Syrias, Vietnans, Iraques...seriously! How we could stabilize our Humanity. Became Human, escape of this draw stage of humanity!

[@femmeNikita27]

@@mjarteaga1754 Yes, in a very small and a very rich country. This state founding didn't come out of nowhere- some very poor yet rich in natural resources large countries have paid for this.( I bet you might count in people frm Africa making less than 1 dollar per hour into this group). In small rich countries current wave of aging population is still manageable. In rich but large countries it's currently getting beyond manageable due to scarcity of medical professionals to attend everyone for example, so in those countries opposite is more likely- more mass housing, so that doctors could visit every elderly person easier. This case is for small and rich countries only. Probably with an aging popluation limited in size to a certain amount beyond which such system will fail. Yes, great humanitarian idea in essence but not feasible for many, certainly not applicable in large yet very poor countries with serious demographic issues. I wish this would be for everyone, I really do. But for my country, for countries I know and have studied during various projects in demographic trends it's like seeing the future you know you will never get yourself.

[@upgrade1583]

have you seen the Australian trials where they blast plaque in the brain using ultrasonic tech.

[@johnarnold908]

Dementia village...one need only go to the government to see that....

[@harindersinghossan5857]

This is nothing but "Act of God" !

[@SagaciousSix]

Does this woman think everyone is rich? The dementia village would be ridiculously expensive.

[@stijndezeeuw4625]

she said at the end of the video, they have the same state budget as every other care home

[@SagaciousSix]

@@stijndezeeuw4625 Which means it has private pay residents.

[@ecyoj100]

These are paid for by the government, by their healthcare system. This is nothing to the hotel like massive beds and rooms of nursing homes in Australia.

[@raavanan5432]

First comment

[@itsverydankytfortniteapexl5588]

Umarani S nobody cares

[@raavanan5432]

But u

[@mmmk1616]

I hope this spreads like wildfire!! Share this people!

[@delphi202002]

take caffeine out of their diet and you will witness a change

[@shahjalalraju3.0]

4th comment

[@seasong7655]

Can't wait till I forget all the embarrasing things I did 😂😂😅

[@davesmith6673]

I'm unable to comment due to KZbin censorship 😒

[@danielsteel5251]

Please explain.

[@bigbabyjesusjealousonestil7182]

Poor people need not apply. This is for the 1%

[@pusspussmckitten]

But how can they find the village ?!

[@SupernaturalBeingsofEarth]

@Eliza Grogan He was referring to Hotel California, where you can never leave.

[@o0Theresa0o]

@Eliza Grogan But it is true - any safe dementia facility would make it such that the residents cannot simply leave. You would, in fact, check in but never leave.