Agrace Hospice Care is planning to construct what it says will be a first-of-its-kind “dementia village” in the U.S. at its Fitchburg care facility, as it grapples with rising occurrences of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in patients and high rates of caregiver burnout.
As reported by Erin McGroarty, Cap Times
With a $7 million donation from a Madison couple, a Dane County hospice company plans to build a new kind of memory care facility in Fitchburg with the goal of centering quality of life for those with dementia.
The “dementia village” will be the first of its kind in the United States, based on a model established in the Netherlands that prioritizes independence and autonomy for those living with diminished memory. The model steers away from hospital-like memory care units with strict security measures and, instead, will allow residents to move freely about the community and make independent decisions on how to go about their day.
