He said his plan to house dementia sufferers in 1950s-style houses with front gardens was designed to increase patients' sense of security. He said they had difficulty remembering what was happening at present but usually had firm memories of the past. "Such an environment makes them feel comfortable. I call it travelling back in time," he said.
Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, is struggling to cope with an elderly and growing population of dementia sufferers. There are 107,000 elderly people afflicted with mental illness and that figure is expected to double in the next 20 years.
Yet not all specialists are convinced that creating an illusory world is the right approach. Michael Schmieder, director of Switzerland's Sonnweid home that caters to 150 dementia patients, opposed the idea of creating a 1950s-era atmosphere. "The very notion is an attempt to fake the normality that people with dementia don't have," he said.
Schmieder's care home offers complete freedom of movement for its residents. "We offer wellness, just like a four-star hotel," Schmieder said. "Our patients are living in the here and now, not back then."
But Switzerland's Alzheimer's Association, which promotes a variety of schemes to help sufferers, supports the project. Spokeswoman Birgitta Martensson denied it was creating a ghetto for the mentally ill. "Different types of care programmes are needed because the illness has different stages," she said. "A dementia village is a good solution for people in advanced stages of the disease."
- Independent