Photo: Vlad Sargu | Unsplash
This article in The New Yorker examines a nursing home in France for people living with Alzheimer's disease that seeks to expand, not restrict, the liberties of people living with the condition. The Village Landais, situated in Dax, in southwestern France, is part of a movement to make memory-care units less like hospitals and more like neighborhoods. The Village is based on the idea that life is full of choices and that autonomy enriches life. Residents can come and go as they please. They can wake and shower at their leisure. Advocates for this kind of care argue that, for people with Alzheimer's, the risk of dehumanization are just as profound as the physical dangers of cutting one's hand or falling and breaking a bone. The Village seems to answer the question "What might a good life with Alzheimer's look like?" The Village is funded by resident fees and with government funding and research is underway to determine the benefits of patients living in this type of setting.
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