As reported on CTV News, Canada’s first seniors’ community designed for those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia is set to open in Langley this July.

Dubbed “The Village,” the project has a series of one-storey buildings, including cabins and a community centre, spread across five acres.

Elroy Jespersen, the project lead for the development, says he’s been fascinated with the concept of finding housing for an often-overlooked segment of the senior population.

“It’s my final project and it’s something that needed to be done,” Jespersen said to CTV News Vancouver.

The Village is partly inspired by a Dutch housing project known as Hogewyk, which is the world’s first “dementia village.”

Cabins are used for housing, with a grocery store and other amenities spread across the property. The project is then surrounded by a secured perimeter that only has one way to exit.

“What intrigued me was they created this perimeter secured village without a fear of walking out,” said Jespersen.

Jespersen says over the 30 years that Verve, one of the companies behind the project, has been working with Canbrit Development to build seniors’ facility, he’s noticed there’s one portion of seniors they struggled to help.

“There was one group of people we were having difficulty providing for and it was older people with dementia,” he said.

The Langley project will have six cabins that house 12 to 13 people. There are no stairs or elevators for residents to get confused by.

Keep reading on CTV News

 

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