|
 But this is no ordinary gated community - each of its 105 permanent
residents has Alzheimer's disease.
The village offers the care of a nursing home in an environment
dressed up as the outside world to soften any sense of painful
rupture with the past, preserving a measure of autonomy and daily
routine that may help slow the advance of dementia.
Madeleine Elissalde, 82, was among the first to move in when the
village, the first in France and modelled on one in the Netherlands,
opened in June. She says she likes the surrounding countryside and
the shared house she lives in.
"It's like being at home," Elissalde said. "We're well looked
after."
For a while after she was diagnosed, Elissalde lived with her
daughter before moving in with another of her children. The moving
around seemed to compound her memory loss, her family said.
But now that her daily reference points are more constant, her
family say the memory loss has stabilised and she is able to live a
more independent life than she would in a nursing home.
SLOWING THE DISEASE?
"Her memory loss is less severe," Elissalde's grand-daughter Aurore
said as the two took shelter from the rain. "She's happy, she's
rediscovered her enjoyment of life."
[to top of second column] |
Each resident pays nearly 24,000 euros a year in fees. More than half the 6.7
million euro running costs are subsidised by public authorities.
Researchers from France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research are
paying close attention. They want to know whether the village model can alter
the clinical trajectory of the disease and whether it offers value for money.
The village has a cafeteria, a library and music room. Its shop provides fresh
fruit and vegetables, and flour and chocolate for baking cakes. There are no
nurses in white coats.
"We don't have a till," said Christine Surelle, who volunteers in the shop. "Our
currency of exchange is smiles."
Her store is as much a place for human contact as it is a place to obtain
essential necessities, she said.
"It's to maintain their sociability, to maintain a contact with the old world
they once knew, to ensure there is no brutal break with the past."
(Reporting by Emilie Delwarde; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Gareth
Jones)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
