A new dementia care facility in Australia, inspired by a Dutch model, offers residents a unique experience with freedom of movement and familiar surroundings.
When Henry Field was in his 20s, he spent seven years travelling the world on a bicycle. That sort of independence and freedom seemed a world away when he was diagnosed with dementia, even though his wife Liz Field 'could not imagine him in a nursing home'. 'For him, little room, no activities … I think he would have really struggled and I think the worst of the dementia mental symptoms would have come on,' she said.
The 82-year-old artist has found a home in a new specialised dementia care facility in Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast. He is among the first residents to move into the St Agnes Parish's Emmaus Dementia Village inspired by a Dutch model of elderly care, The Hogeweyk. Liz Field says her husband is 'not a residential suburban person and that's why him settling here was remarkable'.Unlike traditional care models, residents do not have to follow a set routine and can move freely between the houses and other facilities within the village gates.' first I thought I might not because I'm not into institutions where you have to follow rules constantly. 'I don't have to forsake my viewing the sunset for coming to have dinner. Just put it in the fridge and I'll have it later.' Emmaus is one of three dementia villages in Australia, including the New Directions' Micro-town in Bellmere, Queensland, and Glenview Community Services' Korongee Dementia Village in Tasmania.ABC Mid North Coast: Wiriya SatiNew Direction Care's director Justin Chadwick said while the Queensland facility was 'dementia friendly' it was not exclusively for people experiencing it. 'We find that people who are cognitively capable, they speak up on behalf of the people who aren't and they help the residents who aren't,' he said. Mr Chadwick said the facility was home to 120 residents, had a 100 per cent occupancy, and a long waiting list. Emmaus Dementia Village uses familiar street names, coloured houses as visual cues for a dementia-friendly desig
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