Building has begun on CareBright Community, a four-acre ‘dementia village’ at Bruff in Limerick that is the work of local home-care provider CareBright.
The completed village will have three homes, each with six separate units and their own living room, bedroom, bathroom and garden and is designed to help people living with dementia stay in their own homes – with some assistance. There will also be a cafe, beauty salon, gym, mens’ sheds and gardens, plus overnight accommodation for family and friends.
While the Department of Health has provided €1.5 in funding, and Irish millionaire JP McManus another €1.2m, the Not For Profit has dipped mostly into their own pockets to fund the nearly €5.5 million project with another €980,000 still to raise.
So why did a local millionaire fund the development?
Following the Dutch example
With 60 per cent of CareBright’s clients suffering from dementia, staff found many didn’t have family support and were judged to be unable to live independently. Their only option was to go into residential aged care.
After visiting several sites in the UK and Holland, they decided the successful small-scale household Dutch model was similar to the vision they had in mind.
This ‘dementia village’ idea was pioneered at De Hogeweyk in Holland where residents are provided with nursing care while still enjoying some privacy and independence.
The specially-designed village has 23 houses for 152 dementia-suffering seniors with the houses divided by seven different lifestyle: Goois (upper class), homey, Christian, artisan, Indonesian and cultural.
Residents manage their own households together with a 24-hour team of staff members, with washing and cooking done every day and groceries bought at the Hogeweyk supermarket.
While the community is gated, the village has streets, squares, gardens and a park where the residents can walk freely, plus a restaurant, bar and theatre that can be used by residents and locals.
Changing the face of dementia care
CareBright General Manager Colette Ryan says the community “unlike other models, will provide personalized supports and services based on individual needs and choices to enable people to live for as long as they wish in a place of their choosing.”
Clearly it’s a project that has strong community support, with Limerick local JP McManus chipping in through his €40 million Benevolent Fund, which funds community initiatives and organisations in Ireland’s Mid-West.
Due to open in September 2017, CareBright hopes the model will be replicated around the country. Let’s hope their investment pays off.
