Hogewey: The Dementia Village That Embraces Late-Stage Alzheimer’s

Credit: martijnvandalen

The little village of Hogewey in The Netherlands looks normal on the outside: 23 houses nestled around a community plaza filled with stores and park benches. But this village has a secret. Everyone living within its gates has late-stage Alzheimer’s.

Hogewey is a project imagined by Yvonne van Amerongen, a caretaker who was fed up with the way people with dementia are treated in traditional care facilities. When her father died of a sudden heart attack 20 years ago, a thought dawned on her. She was glad he died quickly and painlessly, and that he never had to spend time in a nursing home.

Van Amerongen knew what she was talking about. She spent years taking care of people who have dementia and other illnesses using a sanitized, clinical approach. She knew that a clinical method wasn’t working. The patients were heavily medicated, confused and often distraught over their short-term memory loss. It was no way to live.

The staff at Hogewey don’t try to fight the memory quirks of Alzheimer’s; nurses and doctors embrace them.

Many staff members at traditional nursing homes want patients to remember current events such as who the president is and what they ate for breakfast that morning. The staff at Hogewey don’t try to fight the memory quirks of Alzheimer’s; nurses and doctors embrace them. 

The dementia village sounds like a plot from a science fiction novel. Each patient is housed in one of 23 units made to look like the era when the patient’s short-term memory stopped. If they don’t remember anything past 1975, they’re placed in a house decked out in classic 1970s style. The furniture, decorations and appliances are hand-picked based on the look of the decade.

That’s not even the strangest perk. The doctors and nurses play roles in the village like an actor would play a princess at Disneyland.

That’s not even the strangest perk. The doctors and nurses play roles in the village like an actor would play a princess at Disneyland. Caretakers play the janitors, cashiers and gardeners at Hogewey. Residents don’t use currency, since the cost of all of their amenities is included in their monthly room rent. Cashiers just help them with their groceries at the village supermarket.

Every house holds six or seven patients at a time, with one or two caretakers in the house to help with their medical needs. The patients are mostly on their own, free to roam around the village, go shopping or catch a movie at the village theater. It’s this aspect that van Amerongen says is most important.

People with dementia lead happier lives when they are given the freedom, albeit well-supervised, to carry out the end of their lives in peace and dignity.

People with dementia lead happier lives when they are given the freedom, albeit well-supervised, to carry out the end of their lives in peace and dignity. The residents here are not in any danger, despite having all of the freedoms of an average citizen. They have around-the-clock access to healthcare, cameras monitoring every area of the village and a huge staff ready to help them if they need it.

With the medical and health benefits of this system, why doesn’t every country implement its own dementia village?

The answer comes down to money. What makes Hogewey work is that much of the cost is covered by government-subsidized universal healthcare programs. Residents never pay more than $3,600 per month to live in the facility, even though the average cost is $8,000 per month. Many residents pay even less than this if they come from families who earn little money.

Try as we might, we can’t wish memory loss away, or force it on people when we drill them on our president’s last name.

Despite high costs, Hogewey proves that fighting dementia at the expense of the patient’s happiness isn’t the best solution, especially in its late stages. Try as we might, we can’t wish memory loss away, or force it on people when we drill them on our president’s last name.

In the end, does it matter whether they remember Barack Obama, or remember what it’s like to take a leisurely walk in the park by themselves, feeling a cool breeze against their face?

For more information about Alzheimer’s, take a look at an organization that offers free screenings for early memory loss detection. You can also read more about this subject in our article about other holistic treatments and how to find humor to cope with its effects.