My recent visit to several Hercules Health clients in the lower South Island included a tour of The Hawthorndale Care Village. This site represents a shift from traditional aged care services that have not changed much in over 30 years. This new model focuses on person-centered, normalized living. By aligning with community norms, residents can thrive in an environment that feels familiar.
The Hawthorndale Care Village is a groundbreaking approach to dementia care in New Zealand and is the second facility using this model. The Rotorua Care Village was the first aged care service in New Zealand to adopt this concept, where residents live in smaller individual homes. This model provides freedom and choice for residents with dementia who previously required a ‘secure’ service, which often restricted their personal space.
Inspired by the innovative Dutch care village, De Hogeweyk, we aim to create dementia care that honours each person, supporting them with compassion, dignity and respect by recreating the familiarity and rhythm of everyday life within a safe and secure setting. This mixed model of care (different levels of care within one home) including those with advancing dementia, is an interesting concept for New Zealand aged residential care and I’m interested to see how well this works over time.
Inspired by the innovative Dutch care village, De Hogeweyk, we aim to create dementia care that honours each person, supporting them with compassion, dignity and respect by recreating the familiarity and rhythm of everyday life within a safe and secure setting. This mixed model of care (different levels of care within one home), including those with advancing dementia, is an interesting concept for New Zealand aged residential care and I’m interested to see how well this works over time.
The needs of aged care for tomorrow and the days after, will not be met by doing what was done yesterday and the days prior! I applaud the teams at The Care Village in Rotorua, and The Hawthorndale Care Village in Invercargill for having the vision and commitment to try something differently.