The Village Langley in Canada is not like any other village.
It may look like an ordinary town, but there is something special about this place. The houses look like the regular houses in a neighborhood, but the people living in them are much more unique.
This is the first “dementia village” in Canada, where 75 people with the said condition are housed and being looked after. The five-acre neighborhood is a community made to care for people with dementia and other conditions related to memory.
This unique village was inspired by communities with the same purpose found in the Netherlands and the United States.
Within the secured grounds of the community, the patients or residents are free to live in their own cottages and do exactly what a person without the condition usually does. They move and communicate like they are in a real neighborhood, only safer and more fit for their needs.
It is a brilliant idea that allows the sick to experience normalcy, and not make them feel hopeless or sad. The beauty of this village is the fact that everyone gets to be themselves and not worry about what would happen on their bad days because there are trained professionals who will look after them.
The village is made to be safe and filled with healthy and delicious food for the residents.
Inside the village, there are also grocery stores, barber shops, and the usual places found inside a regular neighborhood. The residents enjoy having a stroll on the grounds with their pets and friends.
Everyone gets to have a chance to spend time with others without having to be judged by those who don’t know their condition. It is a brilliant way to make the patients feel at ease and rise each morning without feeling lonely or on edge.
“I think it’s very important when you’ve been an active person, that you’re in a place where you don’t feel institutionalized, where you feel a sense of freedom, and that’s what you get here in The Village,” Carole Chesham, a friend of a long-time resident of the village, told Global News’ The New Reality.
Being treated like everybody else and living a normal life has a positive impact on the residents.
Carole shared how her friend and dementia patient, Alan Meggy, started to exhibit the symptoms of the condition. The elderly man decided to move to the village after Carole saw that it was a nice place to be for people like Alan.
Living in the village did not stop the elderly man from his activities, but gave him more freedom to live life after finding out he has dementia. It is a tough ordeal but it became bearable thanks to the village that made living more enjoyable and safe.
Elroy Jespersen, the village’s co-founder, thought that people with dementia need a place like this.
“Many of the people living with dementia become very agitated because they can’t move about as they wish. So we said we need to build a community where people can walk out the door, walk around, come and go as they please and still remain safe,” he said.
Together with his team, Elroy proceeded to build the five-acre village and provide a safe place for the patients. From then on, people in need of care and normal life while suffering from dementia and other memory-related conditions have come to the village to find solace and comfort. It continues to be a home to these people and gives them a chance to roam free and happily as if nothing has changed.
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