It sounds eerily close to the set of Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show, but Swiss healthcare authorities have come up with a plan they believe will help dementia sufferers live more peaceful lives – they’re planning a 1950′s- style village where everything is just as the residents remember.

While developer Markus Vgtlin sees it as a haven where the elderly can be relaxed and content, locals have dubbed the village “Dementiaville.”

The 150 patients will live in 23 houses, each built to replicate how people lived more than 60 years ago. The town, to be built outside Bern, will be complete with cinemas showing old films and shops selling familiar goods.

Doctors and nurses will watch over the facility while disguised as gardeners, hairdressers and shop assistants.

Travelling Back in Time

Vgtlin, a Swiss businessman, had visited a similar facility in the Netherlands where patients were showing the benefits of living away from modern life.

People with dementia often have difficulty remembering events from the recent past, but have strong memories from decades before, Vgtlin said. “I call it travelling back in time.”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, New York Daily News.

Image from: fiftiesweb.com

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author

Jenny W