‘Dementia Village’ in Wisconsin will house patients in a ‘Main Street USA’ setting

For millions of people with dementia, the quality of life often takes a drastic turn. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Agrace Hospice plans to build a new village in Madison, Wisconsin, where dementia patients will be housed in a “Main Street USA” environment.

“We will restore a sense of autonomy and spontaneity, and a return to the normal daily rhythm that a person had before the diagnosis of dementia,” says Lynne SextenCEO of Agrace Hospice.

“It could be, ‘I was going to go to my mahjong club today, but I don’t feel like going, I want to read a book or sleep in,’” she says. “And they absolutely can. Or they can go for a walk themselves and not be followed by an employee.”

According to the Alzheimer’s AssociationAn estimated 7.2 million Americans age 65 and older are living with the disease, which amounts to about 1 in 9 people. By 2050, that number is expected to grow to about 13 million.

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can cause severe memory loss and other behavioral changes and disabilities.

A diagnosis of dementia for a loved one can often mean moving the person to a memory care facility that offers an “institutional lifestyle where residents have very little spontaneity or connection to regular life.”

“As your disease progresses, people want to keep you safe, so they start to limit your world,” says Sexten.

The $40 million Agrace Dementia Village, to be built on the hospital’s 2.5-acre campus, will instead offer a real village, where patients can stroll through quaint streets lined with shops, sit in parks with friends or family and generally feel like they are living an ordinary life.

There will be eight single-storey houses, each with eight residents, with a kitchen, living and dining room, separate bedrooms with private bathrooms and a front veranda.

“It will look like a regular ranch house in any neighborhood in the U.S.,” says Sexten. “People will cook and clean and live normal lives as usual.”

The main difference is that these homes are safe for dementia patients and also have a full-time caregiver. Residents are also assessed on their interests and lifestyle, giving housemates a much better chance of living harmoniously.

In addition, the village will accommodate 40 to 50 ‘day club’ members who do not live on site, but come daily for indoor and outdoor recreation and amenities, all in a dementia-friendly, safe environment.

Staff housing is also planned in the village for university students pursuing training in healthcare.

Sexten hopes that this will not only attract more people to the long-term care sector, but also provide young people with plenty of opportunities to connect with people with dementia, which will benefit both groups.

Inspiration: The Netherlands

The village of Agrace is based on Dementia village Hogeweyklocated just outside Amsterdam.

“The Hogeweyk model maintains a much higher quality of life for much longer,” says Sexten. “And ultimately, when someone dies, it comes quickly, rather than this prolonged, painful approach to death over many months.”

This style of dementia care – which is gaining popularity in Europe, Australia, China and Canada – has been slow to take root in the US. It’s probably no coincidence that the US is the only one of those places with a for-profit medical care system.

“I think that’s why [Agrace] can make this leap first is because we are a non-profit organization,” says Sexten.[The village] must be financially viable, but we will not have a group of investors looking for a significant return on their investment. A fair number of senior facilities in our country are non-profit, but the vast majority of them are owned by investors.”

Still, she says the cost to the village resident will be the same as traditional memory care facilities.

Also in Wisconsin, another nonprofit, Dementia Innovations in Sheboygan County, is developing a similar dementia care village called Livasualso based on Hogeweyk.

This village will offer 124 manufactured homes for sale in the $95,000 to $175,000 range, all with dementia-friendly design, such as living and bedrooms on one level with a direct sightline to the toilet, which helps prevent incontinence.

Instead of fences, special landscaping will prevent wandering and healthcare staff will live on site.

Entering the village

Those interested in the Agrace Dementia Village, which opens in fall 2027, can currently sign up to be notified when the waitlist opens.

“I think we will have a huge waiting list,” Sexten says. “Every memory care facility has a waiting list, and I don’t think ours will be any different. There has been a lot of excitement around the concept.”

She says it’s “about time” for dementia care to be implemented at the village level in the US

“This is an approach whose time has come,” she says. “People with dementia are your neighbors; they are ordinary people who have to live in an environment that is a little different.”

“We’re trying something that hasn’t been done before, and we’re excited to see the amazing impact this will have on people with dementia.”