The "dementia village" that's redefining elder care | Yvonne van Amerongen

Translator: Claudia Ríos García Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

This is the Hogeweyk.

Isto é Hogeweyk.

It's a neighborhood in a small town very near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

É un barrio dunha pequena cidade moi preto de Ámsterdam, en Holanda.

There are 27 houses for six, seven people each.

Hai 27 casas con seis ou sete persoas en cada unha.

There's a small mall with a restaurant, a pub, a supermarket, a club room.

Hai un pequeno centro comercial cun restaurante,

un bar, un supermercado e un pub.

There are streets, alleys, there's a theater.

Tamén ten rúas, canellas, un teatro...

It actually is a nursing home.

En realidade trátase dunha residencia de anciáns.

A nursing home for people that live with an advanced dementia

Unha residencia para persoas con demencia avanzada

and that need 24-7 care and support.

que necesitan atención 24 horas 7 días á semana.

Dementia is a terrible disease,

A demencia é unha enfermidade terrible

and we still don't have any cure for it.

para a que aínda non temos cura.

It's getting to be a major problem in the world,

Estase a converter nun problema grave no mundo

for the people, for the politicians,

para a xente, para os políticos, para todos...

for the world -- it's getting to be a big problem.

estase a converter nun problema moi serio.

We see that we have waiting lists in the nursing homes.

Sabemos que nas residencias de anciáns hai lista de espera.

A maior parte das persoas con demencia que entran nunha residencia son mulleres.

Most people that come to the nursing homes with dementia are women.

And that's also because women are used to taking care of people,

Isto débese a que as mulleres

están acostumadas a coidar persoas,

so they can manage to take care of their husband with dementia,

así que amáñanse para coidar os seus maridos con demencia.

but the other way around is not so easy for the gentlemen.

Pero pola contra, para os homes, non é tan fácil.

Dementia is a disease that affects the brain.

A demencia é unha enfermidade que afecta o cerebro.

The brain is confused.

O cerebro está confundido.

People don't know anymore what the time is,

A xente xa non sabe que hora é,

what's going on, who people are.

que pasa, quen son as demais persoas.

They're very confused.

Están moi confundidos.

And because of that confusion,

E por culpa desa confusión

they get to be anxious, depressed, aggressive.

póñense nerviosos, deprimidos, agresivos...

This is a traditional nursing home.

Esta é unha residencia de anciáns tradicional.

I worked there in 1992.

Traballei alí en 1992.

I was a care manager.

Eu era a responsable do servizo de coidados.

And we often spoke together about the fact

A miúdo falabamos de que o que faciamos alí

that what we were doing there was not what we wanted for our parents,

non era o que quereriamos para os nosos maiores,

for our friends, for ourselves.

para os nosos amigos, para nós mesmos.

And one day, we said,

E un día dixemos:

"When we keep on saying this, nothing is going to change.

"Por moito que falemos, nada vai cambiar.

We are in charge here.

Nós estamos ao cargo.

We should do something about this,

Deberíamos facer algo

so that we do want to have our parents here."

de maneira que queiramos traer os nosos pais aquí".

We talked about that, and what we saw every day

Falámolo, e o que viamos a diario

was that the people that lived in our nursing home

era que as persoas que vivían na nosa residencia

were confused about their environment,

estaban confundidas con respecto á súa contorna

because what they saw was a hospital-like environment,

porque o que vían era un ambiente de hospital

with doctors and nurses and paramedics in uniform,

con médicos, enfermeiros e paramédicos de uniforme,

and they lived on a ward.

e vivían permanentemente nunha sala.

And they didn't understand why they lived there.

E non entendían por que estaban alí,

And they looked for the place to get away.

entón buscaban lugares polos que saír.

They looked and hoped to find the door to go home again.

Buscaban con esperanza a porta para volver para a casa.

And we said what we are doing in this situation

E pensamos que o que estabamos facendo nesa situación

is offering these people that already have a confused brain

era darlle a esa xente, que xa ten a mente confusa,

some more confusion.

máis confusión.

We were adding confusion to confusion.

Estabamos engadindo máis confusión á confusión.

And that was not what these people needed.

E iso non era o que esa xente necesitaba.

These people wanted to have a life,

Esa xente quería ter unha vida,

and the help, our help, to deal with that dementia.

e axuda, a nosa axuda, para lidar con esa demencia.

These people wanted to live in a normal house,

Esta xente quería vivir nunha casa normal

not in a ward.

non nunha sala.

They wanted to have a normal household,

Querían ter un fogar normal

where they would smell their dinner on the stove in the kitchen.

onde puidesen ulir a cea ao lume na cociña.

Or be free to go to the kitchen and grab something to eat or drink.

Ou ser libres de ir á cociña por algo para comer ou beber.

That's what these people needed.

Iso era o que esa xente necesitaba.

And that's what we should organize for them.

E iso era o que debíamos ofrecerlles.

And we said we should organize this like at home,

Pensamos que debiamos organizar este lugar coma unha casa,

so they wouldn't live with a group of 15 or 20 or 30, like in a ward.

de xeito que non vivisen cun grupo de 15, 20 ou 30 persoas nunha sala.

No, a small group of people, six or seven, family-like.

Non, un grupo pequeno de seis ou sete, coma nunha familia.

Like living with friends.

Como vivir con amigos.

And we should find a way to select people

E debiamos encontrar un modo de agrupalos

based on their ideas about life

segundo a súa maneira de pensar

so that they did have a good chance to become friends,

para que tivesen a oportunidade real de facerse amigos

when they lived together.

cando vivisen xuntos.

And we interviewed all the families of the residents

Entrevistamos as familias dos residentes e preguntámoslles

about "what is important for your father," "what's important for your mother,"

"Que é importante para teu pai?"

"Que é importante para túa nai?"

"what is their life like," "what do they want."

"Como é a súa vida?" "Que desexos teñen?"

And we found seven groups, and we call them lifestyle groups.

E identificamos sete grupos

aos que chamamos "grupos de estilo de vida".

And for instance, we found this formal lifestyle.

E, por exemplo, encontramos un estilo de vida formal.

In this lifestyle,

Nese estilo de vida

people have a more formal way of interacting with each other,

a xente interactúa de maneira máis formal,

a distant way.

máis distante.

Their daily rhythm starts later in the day,

O seu ritmo diario empeza tarde e acaba tarde.

ends later in the day.

Classical music is more heard in this lifestyle group

Neste estilo de vida escóitase máis música clásica

than in other lifestyle groups.

ca nos outros grupos.

And their menu,

En canto ao menú,

ben... é máis afín á cociña francesa que á holandesa tradicional.

well, is more French cuisine than traditional Dutch.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

In contrary to the craftsman lifestyle.

É o oposto ao estilo de vida do obreiro.

That's a very traditional lifestyle,

Este é un estilo moi tradicional.

and they get up early in the morning, go to bed early,

A xente érguese cedo e déitase cedo

because they have worked hard their whole life, mostly with their hands,

porque traballaron duro toda a vida, especialmente coas mans.

En moitos casos tiveron un pequeno negocio familiar,

very often had a very small family business, a small farm, a shop,

unha pequena granxa, unha tenda

or like Mr. B, he was a farmhand.

ou coma o Sr. B., que traballaba no campo.

And he told me that he would go to his work every morning

Contoume que ía traballar cada mañá coa súa comida nunha bolsa de papel

with a paper bag with his lunch

and one cigar.

e un puro.

That one cigar was the only luxury he could afford for himself.

Ese puro era o único luxo que se podía permitir.

And after lunch, he would have that one cigar.

E despois de comer fumábao.

And until the day he died in the Hogeweyk,

E ata o día que morreu en Hogeweyk,

he was in this little shed, every day, after lunch, to smoke his cigar.

ía cada día despois de comer para este pequeno alboio fumar o seu puro.

Esta é miña nai.

This is my mother.

She's of the cultural lifestyle,

Pertence ao estilo de vida cultural.

she's been living in the Hogeweyk six weeks now.

Leva seis semanas vivindo en Hogeweyk.

And that lifestyle is about traveling, meeting other people, other cultures,

Este estilo de vida vai de viaxar,

coñecer xente, outras culturas,

interest in arts and music.

o interese pola arte e a música...

There are more lifestyles.

Hai máis estilos de vida.

But that's what we talked about, and that's what we did.

Pero diso foi do que falamos e iso foi o que fixemos.

But that's not life in a house with a group of people,

Aínda que vivas nunha casa cun grupo de persoas de ideas afíns,

non é a túa propia vida, non é o teu fogar.

like-minded people, your own life, your own household.

There's more in life,

Hai máis cousas na vida.

everybody wants fun in life and a meaningful life.

Todo o mundo quere divertirse e darlle sentido á súa vida.

We are social animals --

Somos animais sociais e precisamos vida social.

we need a social life.

And that's what we started.

E iso é o que puxemos en marcha.

We want to go out of our house and do some shopping,

Queremos saír da casa, ir de compras, coñecer xente...

and meet other people.

Or go to the pub, have a beer with friends.

Ou ir ao bar e tomar unha cervexa con amigos.

Or like Mr. W -- he likes to go out every day,

Ou coma o Sr. W, a quen lle gusta saír a diario

see if there are nice ladies around.

para ver se hai mulleres bonitas pola volta.

(Laughter)

And he's very courteous to them,

É moi cabaleiroso con elas;

and he hopes for smiles and he gets them.

só espera que lle sorrían e conségueo.

And he dances with them in the pub.

E baila con elas no bar.

Cada día é unha festa.

It's a feast every day.

There are people that would rather go to the restaurant,

Hai quen prefire ir a un restaurante,

have a wine with friends,

tomar un viño cos amigos,

or lunch or dinner with friends and celebrate life.

ou xantar ou cear con amigos e celebrar a vida.

And my mother, she takes a walk in the park,

Miña nai pasea polo parque e senta nun banco ao sol.

and sits on a bench in the sun,

hoping that a passerby will come and sit next to her

esperando que veña alguén e sente ao seu lado

and have a conversation about life

para falar sobre a vida,

or about the ducks in the pond.

ou sobre os patos da lagoa.

That social life is important.

Esa vida social é importante.

It means that you're part of society, that you belong.

Significa que es parte da sociedade, que tes o teu lugar.

And that's what we people need.

E iso é o que todos precisamos.

Even if you're living with advanced dementia.

incluso se temos demencia avanzada.

This is what I see from my office window.

Isto é o que vexo dende a ventá da miña oficina.

And one day, I saw a lady coming from one side,

Un día vin a unha señora que viña dun lado,

and the other lady from the other side, and they met at the corner.

e a outra señora que viña do outro, e atopáronse na esquina.

And I knew both ladies very well.

Eu coñecíaas moi ben ás dúas.

I often saw them walking around outside.

A miúdo víaas pasear por fóra.

And now and then, I tried to have a conversation with them,

Nalgunha ocasión tratei de conversar con elas,

pero a súa conversa era...

but their conversation was ...

rather hard to understand.

bastante complicada de entender.

But I saw them meeting, and I saw them talking,

Pero vinas reunirse, vinas falar

and I saw them gesturing.

vinas xesticular.

And they had fun together.

E divertíanse xuntas.

And then they said goodbye, and each went their own way.

Despois despedíronse e cada unha marchou polo seu lado.

And that's what you want in life, meeting other people

Isto é o que queremos na vida: encontrarnos con outra xente

and being part of society.

e formar parte da sociedade.

And that's what I saw happening.

E isto é o que vin alí.

The Hogeweyk has become a place

Hogeweyk converteuse nun lugar

onde xente cun estado de demencia avanzado pode vivir,

where people with very advanced dementia can live,

have freedom and safety,

ter liberdade e seguridade,

because the professionals working there and the volunteers working there

porque os profesionais e voluntarios que traballan alí

know how to deal with dementia.

saben como tratar a demencia.

And the professionals know how to do their professional work

E os profesionais saben como facer o seu traballo

in a way that it fits in a natural way in the life of our residents.

de maneira que se axuste con naturalidade á vida dos residentes.

And that means that the management has to provide everything

E iso significa que a dirección ten que proporcionar

those people need to do their work.

todo o que esa xente precisa para facer o seu traballo.

It needs a management that dares to do this.

Necesítase unha dirección que se atreva a facelo,

To do things differently than we always have done

a facer as cousas de xeito diferente

in a traditional nursing home.

a como sempre se fixeron nunha residencia de anciáns tradicional.

We see that it works.

Sabemos que funciona.

We think this can be done everywhere,

Cremos que isto se pode facer en todas as partes

because this is not for the rich.

porque isto non é para ricos.

We've been doing this with the same budget

Conseguímolo co mesmo presuposto

as any traditional nursing home has in our country.

que ten calquera residencia de anciáns tradicional no noso país.

We work only with the state budget.

Traballamos só co presuposto estatal.

(Aplausos)

(Applause)

Because it has to do with thinking different,

Porque ten que ver con pensar diferente,

and looking at the person in front of you

con mirar a persoa que está fronte a ti

and looking at what does this person need now.

e decatarse do que esa persoa necesita agora.

And it's about a smile, it's about thinking different,

Trátase de sorrir, de pensar diferente,

it's about how you act, and that costs nothing.

de como actuar, e iso non custa nada.

And there's something else: it's about making choices.

E hai algo máis: trátase de tomar decisións.

It's about making choices what you spend your money on.

Trátase de decidir en que gastas os cartos.

I always say,

Eu sempre digo:

"Red curtains are as expensive as gray ones."

"As cortinas vermellas son tan caras coma as grises"

(Laughter)

(Risas)

It's possible, everywhere.

É posible, en todas partes.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)