“This unique place allows the maintenance, as much as possible, of a social life in an environment as secure as possible”, exposed Julien Dubois, mayor of Dax, on May 20. Right next to the Landes commune, an entire village with its mini-market, hairdressing salon, media library and brasserie has sprung up in twenty months. Spread over five hectares, it is inhabited by 120 villagers, all suffering from Alzheimer’s, and as many carers and volunteers who come to their aid. Due to the Covid, this nursing home of a new kind and even unique in France could not be inaugurated until two years after its opening. And nine years after its creator Henri Emmanuelli, who died in 2017, had the idea when reading an article on The Hogeweyk. Created in 2009 in Weesp, near Amsterdam, it was the first structure in the world dedicated to people with dementia and resembling a real city (27 apartments in total for 169 inhabitants) managed by the company Vivium Zorggroep.
“Favoring the public model”
“The recent scandals reinforce our belief in favoring the public model. We also wanted the daily rate here (65.42 euros) to be equivalent to that of public nursing homes”underlined Xavier Fortinon, president of the Landes departmental council, which contributed 20.4 million euros to the total bill of 28.8 million euros.
The department co-manages the establishment with the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Health Agency, involving multiple partners including France Alzheimer Landes and France Parkinson Landes in its management. In front of the family of Henri Emmanuelli, the former President of the Republic François Hollande, who was among his relatives, recalled that the French population is aging and that the number of dependent people or even suffering from dementia will increase: “20% of French people are over 65 and this share will rise to 30% in 2050”. In the Landes, this rate has already been reached and among these people some 8,000 are suffering from Alzheimer’s, the most well-known and currently incurable neurodegenerative disease, out of an estimated total of one million in France.
No white coats
Since the beginning, people have come from all over France to live in this reception structure with typical Landes architecture with its bastide with columns around the square planted with pines and its four quarters of sixteen wooden houses made up of individual rooms and a kitchen and a common living room.
It’s that “philosophy is unique”summarizes Pascale Laserre-Sergent, its director, who has 250 people on the waiting list. “The villagers get up at the time of their choice, are free to participate in activities and collective tasks, such as shopping and washing up. Caregivers do not wear white coats, they use medication as little as possible and can take the time because the tasks are not timed. The volunteers are also fully integrated into the planning and decide on the activity they do with the villagers, whether it is reading, table football or going for a walk to see the ducks in the pond, the donkeys or the vegetable garden”she lists.
The employees are also unanimous on the fact that everything is different in what is also called “the Landes Village” for short. This is the case of Jenny who leads workshops in the media library, soon to be open to external people, since the spring: “The villagers are much more active and peaceful than in the Ephad where I used to work. We do a lot of reading, because the hardest thing about this disease is losing words. We offer at least three cognitive-boosting activities every morning , in small groups, accompanied if they wish by family members, children and grandchildren”, she explains. Residents range in age from 41 to over 80.
Scientifically validate the method to reproduce it
One of the first inhabitants, Christiane, on the arm of the caregiver Dominique, is 88 now and she is radiant. “She dances, plays pétanque, participates in the floral decoration workshop and even swings”, laughs Dominique, who comes two half-days a week. “The atmosphere is relaxing, it looks like a holiday village with this architecture. We just miss the swimming pool!”.
After receiving delegations from all over the world curious to discover the secrets of this welcoming place which has since spread to Rome, Pascale Laserre-Sergent has just welcomed the Dutch team of De Hogeweyk. “They found our variation magnificent. Above all, with our scientific committee, we will be able to demonstrate, also for the first time, the validity of the method and ensure its reproducibility”. Under the aegis of Professor Jean-François Dartigues, neurologist and researcher at the University of Bordeaux, the team of psychogerontologist Hélène Amieva from Inserm (National Institute for Health and Medical Research) has been evaluating for two years, and for another three years, every six months, the state of health of the villagers, as well as the state of mind of the family and the nursing staff.