Taking On Dementia With the Experiences of Normal Life

WEESP, the Netherlands — The sparkling-new 23-unit Hogewey complex here is virtually indistinguishable from other residential developments in the area. The apartments open onto a courtyard with benches, ponds and fountains, with beds of flowers in season (this is the Netherlands, after all). One kidney-shaped pond planted with reeds and other vegetation occasionally attracts wild ducks.

There are plenty of amenities: a small supermarket, a theater and a restaurant and cafe that attract people from around the area. Again, nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. The residents can also participate in a variety of activities, like clubs for music, baking, painting and gardening.

Yet, if Hogewey does not sound all that different from a typical residential complex, that is exactly the point. The residents are older men and women suffering from severe dementia, but instead of being constrained in a typical nursing home, they live here for $6,555 a month, six to eight to an apartment, where they are cared for by two or more trained professionals. . .

The idea behind Hogewey developed over the last 20 years. But it was only after the new quarters were built in 2009 that it began attracting attention as a humane and cost-effective response to a disease that is claiming an increasing number of victims as life expectancies in the developed world continue to rise.

In a report released this month, the World Health Organization forecast that the number of people suffering from dementia would double by 2030, to more than 65 million, and triple by 2050, as the world’s population ages. The increase comes as governments everywhere struggle to contain the runaway costs of health care.

“We are receiving attention from our German colleagues, from England,” said Jannette Spiering, the director of Hogewey. “Everyone is struggling with the same problem.” So strong has the attention become that the complex has hired a public information officer to channel the flow of visitors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/world/europe/netherlands-hogewey-offers-normal-life-to-dementia-patients.html