How the famous Dutch village lives today, in which the inhabitants all suffer from dementia

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Hogue, just 20 kilometers from Amsterdam, is a television show-style nursing home. At first glance, it looks like any other Dutch city. Residents here live absolutely normal lives: they buy food, go to the movies and chat with friends. Only this is all part of the production, the grandiose deception and the replacement of reality. Every step of a resident is monitored by surveillance cameras, and all service personnel, from the cashier to the gardener, from the hairdresser to the dentist, are just part of this global deception.

In fact, Hogewey is a retirement home that looks like an ordinary village, one of a thousand similar small villages throughout Holland. The village was specially created for people suffering from severe forms of dementia. It is radically different from all those nursing homes that we are used to. Where patients live in dull gray buildings, with endlessly long corridors and polished hospital floors, where there is nothing but a TV for company. In Hogue, for these helpless people, a society that is most acceptable for life has been created. They live in ordinary houses, they have a theater, grocery stores, their own post office, beautiful gardens and hobby clubs. Of course, here every janitor, salesman, and waiter is a Hoguey employee playing a role. In total, the village has about 150 residents and 250 caretakers.

The concept of such an unusual nursing home was developed by Yvonne van Amerongen. She worked in a traditional Dutch nursing home. Watching every day how it all works, Yvonne only dreamed that neither she nor her family would need such care. The woman wanted to make the life of these people more normal and happy, so that they could enjoy life like everyone else. Van Amerongen came up with an idea of how this could be organized. For two decades, Yvonne has worked to obtain funding and bring all her ideas to life.

The Hoguey complex was opened in 2009. This is a village of almost thirty two-story brick houses and all the infrastructure necessary for the functioning of the town. All this is located on an area of about seven hectares. Each house has six or seven residents. Neighbors here are selected according to common interests. They are watched over by one or two caretakers. All houses here have a unique style that reflects the lifestyle and taste preferences of each group.

Residents choose their daily meal schedule and their activities. Some can dine at a rustic café or restaurant. Others may opt for home care. Every month, fake money is handed out to the locals, which can be used in the village supermarket or in restaurants. Sometimes residents take what they need from the supermarket and just leave. Money is not exchanged here.

The goal of all interventions is to preserve such an important sense as autonomy, which is central to the treatment of dementia. For many people, even the smallest detail can make a huge difference.“We know perfectly well what kind of coffee you like to drink, but anyway, every day we will ask about which one you prefer, with or without sugar, with or without cream. The most important thing is that you have the right and can still decide for yourself. The psychological benefits of a happy, fulfilling life for physical health are enormous. The residents of Hogue take a lot less medication, eat much better, live longer, and look happier than the residents of standard nursing homes.

Hogue's success has inspired many other dementia villages around the world. There is one in Penetangishen, Ontario, Canada, and another near Canterbury, in Kent, England. Of course, like every new initiative, all this is criticized. Some are worried about the ethics of deceiving such psychologically vulnerable people by creating a false, artificially fabricated utopia. But supporters of the idea argue that there is no harm in such manipulations. The researchers noted that although the inhabitants live in the illusion of normality and independence, they are very calm and balanced, look absolutely happy, and this is really all that matters in the end.

Ethical discussions are just demagoguery. The most important thing is meeting the needs of these people. A village like this is a wonderful and effective way to create a much needed feeling of independence, self-sufficiency and control over your own life. University of Alberta designer anthropologist Megan Strickfaden says: “There is nothing fake about Hogue. This is the same living space as any other. This cannot be considered cheating. These people have access to grocery stores, various events, public places, just like in any ordinary city."

Numerous studies in the field of dementia treatment methods suggest that all problems are caused by anxiety, insecurity, and lack of personal concern. At Hogue, everyone is happy, peaceful and relaxed. Hence the significant successes. Only people who have severe cases of dementia or Alzheimer's disease are accepted here. Jobs are rare given that a place is only vacated when someone dies. The village has been operating at full capacity since it opened in 2009. The town is mostly funded by the Dutch government, and the construction cost just over $ 25 million. The cost of care is almost $ 8,000 a month, but the Dutch government subsidizes residents and the amount each family pays depends on income, but never exceeds $ 3,600. This is a very small amount, well below what a standard nursing home would have to pay for care.

It often happens that the quality of life in nursing homes is very poor. There is also mistreatment and, as a result, low morale. Residents of ordinary nursing homes go outside very infrequently and for a short time. In Hogue, an active lifestyle is promoted. All this is not just a higher level of health care, it is about a more comprehensive and enjoyable way of treatment. Very often people with mental health problems find themselves isolated. According to the latest research in this area, this actually reduces the production of myelin, the fiber that supports our nerve cells. This directly means that isolation can only make mental illness worse. Patients with dementia, feeling lonely or isolated, feel so bad that it becomes unclear which part of dementia is a result of the disease and which part is the result of how it is treated.

In traditional nursing homes, patients are told openly: you are sick, you are unable to take care of yourself, you are constantly forgetting everything. But in Hogue, these people live in a place that looks like home, they feel at home, even though they are not. What is a facade for us, they perceive as a reality that helps them feel normal even when they are sick. In the years since Hogue's founding, dementia experts from the US, UK, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and Australia have flocked to the humble Dutch town in hopes of finding a plan to tackle this global problem. Other housing estates for dementia patients have been set up outside the Netherlands, but none offered the amenities or patient care that Hogue provides. The high cost is one of the biggest obstacles to making such autonomous villages the standard of care for these diseases.

At Hogue, no one has found a universal cure for dementia, but there is certainly a way that is changing all our ideas about how to treat those who can no longer take care of themselves. “It's a terrible disease, but a place like Hogue is encouraging, making me a lot less afraid of it,” said Ellie Gedhart, daughter of one of the residents of Hogue. The village gives these people happiness, filling their every day with the pleasure of a real, fulfilling life. It remains only to dream that such villages will become common in any country in the world, so that the elderly, especially those suffering from dementia, do not feel unhappy, abandoned and lonely.

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