What's being billed as the nation's first "dementia village" is coming to Wisconsin. The $40 million project will be built in Fitchburg, near Madison, and is scheduled to open next year, reports WMTV. The idea is to create a community for about 65 residents, all with dementia diagnoses, that swaps institutional hallways for a small-scale neighborhood. Instead of a single locked facility, the village will feature eight houses with eight residents each, plus a restaurant, spa, and grocery store. The group behind the project—which is modeled after one in the Netherlands—is a nonprofit health-care agency called Agrace.
"We're really trying to address two dire issues at the same time," Agrace President and CEO Lynne Sexten tells Hospice News. "For those living with dementia, we want to restore their sense of autonomy, self-determination, and happiness. We want to keep that quality of life as high as we can as they progress. At the same time ... the caregiver burnout issue is real. We're hoping that this village really starts to address the caregiver burden." On-site staff housing is designed to help with the latter. Day visitors also are welcome.
No word yet on cost, but organizers say it's expected to be in line with other nursing homes or memory care facilities. Families would pay room and board out of pocket, with medical care billed to insurance. The project will be called the Ellen & Peter Johnson Dementia Village at Agrace, after a couple who made a $7 million donation, notes People. Construction is expected to start in the spring.
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