Déjà vu for German people with dementia

Dresden –

A room in a retirement home in the German Dresden is transformed into a true East-German house. To the great delight of its inhabitants, most of whom suffer from dementia. The space looks as if the time dozens stood still and the inhabitants spend their days as they did fifty years ago did.

The furniture are of dozens of years back and by the sound of music from the former East Germany, writes a reporter from the news agency AP that the home visited. in the Evenings, in the kitchen, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and sausages cut to the Hungarian court where the elderly used to be so fond of. Clothing is ironed with a heavy, iron iron.

Relax

According to the director of the nursing home, Gunter, Wolfram, it’s hard to believe that many of the elderly who now enjoy a meal not so long ago, their bed the whole day, not on release. “From the first day this room is a great success. The residents are very happy to have things from the past. They feel relaxed.”

Een oranje telefoon en een lp van de Beatles: ook in deze kamer lijkt het alsof de tijd heeft stilgestaan.

An orange phone and an lp of the Beatles: also in this room, it seems as if time has stood still.

Photo: AP

It soon became so busy in the room, that Wolfram decided to take a second to create space. This was decorated like a house from the seventies – including psychedelic patterns on the walls and orange accessories. On the turntable is a picture of the Beatles.

Psychedelisch behang? Deze dames zijn er maar wat blij mee.

Psychedelic wallpaper? These ladies are very happy with it.

Photo: AP

According to the German physician, Herlind Megges, who is not involved in the home, the recall of a familiar environment for people with dementia as a type of memory therapy. It can be the well-being of many patients vastly improve, says Megges. “That way, exactly is activated what happens in the brain is known and what still works. It is important that these people, who in this world is not feeling fine because the unknown feels in a space can live where they feel comfortable.”


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