How should elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia be treated and taken care of? It’s long been a contentious issue. Because although they’re getting older and have lost some of their ability to remember, they still have the right to live happy lives just like the rest of us.
One person who has thought a lot about this issue is nursing home director Jean Makesh. His unique solution was to build a home that serves as a time capsule and recreates important memories for elderly people with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
This nursing home, located in Ohia, USA, is one of only three places in the world specifically designed for people who suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Each room looks like a surburban house overlooking a golf course, and the whole interior of the nursing home looks straight out of the 1940s. With an incredible eye for detail down to a 1940s’ color palette, this facility is a unique place.
It even has special fiber-optic lighting installed in the ceiling to replicate the look of a starry sky every night.
The floors are green to imitate suburban lawns, and sound effects are broadcast from a speaker system to simulate the sound of birds chirping—both of which are therapeutic to the nursing home’s residents.
“Every little thing you see, the wall color, the paint, actually has a therapeutic benefit, a therapeutic value,” CEO and founder Jean Makesh told the News-Herald.
It is Makesh, an expert in rehabilitation, who created this perfect setting for those who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s.
After Makesh realized that a familiar environment can lead to major reductions of anxiety, anger, and depression, he decided to create a place that would foster just such an environment. But he did it in a much more sophisticated way than any nursing home had done before.
He recreated the environment of the residents’ youth—when they were young and fit—and he also introduced classes to help them relearn basic skills. Anything to keep the brain in shape…
“I take them back to those memories. I create a time capsule. It enables them to embrace everything around them,” Makesh said.
The project has so far been a success and has been written about all over the world. Now, Makesh hopes his idea will develop and grow—so that elderly people who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s can live out their golden years in dignity.
Elderly people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Life doesn’t end at retirement. Please share if you also hope that this wonderful idea will spread!
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