In the future, Alzheimer’s patients in Denmark will have a place to call their own as Odense Municipality is building the nation’s first village for people suffering from dementia.
The little village, which will have a shop, hairdresser and cafe, will be a mini-society and offer a more secure existence for its 200-300 inhabitants. The village is scheduled to be completed in three years’ time.
“It’s a huge benefit to get into a closed environment where the conditions are like you are used to,” John Larsen, who suffers from early Alzheimer’s, told DR Nyheder.
The Alzheimer’s association Alzheimersforeningen is also pleased about the village, but warns that building it is just the first step. It contends it is essential there are enough personnel to cater to the village’s inhabitants.
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Numbers to triple?
The village, which will be run by Odense Municipality, is being financed thanks to support from the OK Fonden fund.
And there is already talk that they might need to build more than one in the future. While there are about 70,000-90,000 suffering from some form of dementia in Denmark now, that could increase in the future.
The World Alzheimer’s Report 2015 revealed today that the number of people with dementia worldwide is expected to nearly triple from 47 million today to 132 million by 2050.
