Yvonne van Amerongen: The "dementia village" that's redefining elder care
Yvonne Van Amerongen: Una "aldea" para personas con demencia que redefine el cuidado de los ancianos
Yvonne van Amerongen is an occupational therapist and a social worker. Full bio
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very near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
muy cerca de Ámsterdam, en Holanda.
for six, seven people each.
o siete personas cada una.
a pub, a supermarket, a club room.
con un restaurante, un bar,
there's a theater.
senderos y un teatro.
that live with an advanced dementia
con demencia avanzada
los siete días de la semana.
a major problem in the world,
los políticos, para el mundo.
to be a big problem.
in the nursing homes.
tenemos listas de espera.
with dementia are women.
que entra en un geriátrico son mujeres.
are used to taking care of people,
están acostumbradas a cuidar personas,
of their husband with dementia,
a sus maridos con demencia.
is not so easy for the gentlemen.
tan fácil para los caballeros.
that affects the brain.
que afecta al cerebro.
what the time is,
depressed, aggressive.
deprimidos, agresivos.
en el sector de atención médica.
was not what we wanted for our parents,
lo que queríamos para nuestros padres,
para nosotros mismos.
nothing is going to change.
nada va a cambiar.
to have our parents here."
traer a nuestros padres aquí".
and what we saw every day
y lo que veíamos a diario
that lived in our nursing home
que vivían en nuestro geriátrico
con respecto a su entorno,
was a hospital-like environment,
como un ambiente de hospital,
and paramedics in uniform,
y paramédicos con uniforme.
why they lived there.
el lugar por donde salir.
the door to go home again.
la puerta para volver a casa.
in this situation
haciendo en esa situación
that already have a confused brain
que ya tiene la mente confusa,
to deal with that dementia.
in a normal house,
en una casa normal,
on the stove in the kitchen.
de la comida mientras se cocina,
and grab something to eat or drink.
por algo para comer o beber.
organize for them.
organize this like at home,
este lugar como una casa,
of 15 or 20 or 30, like in a ward.
de 15, 20 o 30 personas, como en una sala,
six or seven, family-like.
de seis o siete, como en una familia.
de agruparlos según su manera de pensar
a good chance to become friends,
real de hacerse amigos
all the families of the residents
las familias de los residentes
importante para tu padre?
"what's important for your mother,"
"what do they want."
and we call them lifestyle groups.
llamamos "grupos de estilos de vida".
we found this formal lifestyle.
un estilo de vida formal.
of interacting with each other,
de interactuar más formal,
starts later in the day,
tarde y acaba tarde.
in this lifestyle group
se escucha más música clásica
than traditional Dutch.
que a la holandesa tradicional.
de vida del artesano.
in the morning, go to bed early,
y se acuestan temprano,
their whole life, mostly with their hands,
la vida, mayormente con las manos.
family business, a small farm, a shop,
un pequeño negocio familiar,
que trabajaba en el campo.
to his work every morning
con su comida en una bolsa de papel
he could afford for himself.
lujo que se podía pagar.
he would have that one cigar.
after lunch, to smoke his cigar.
a un pequeño cobertizo a fumar su puro.
in the Hogeweyk six weeks now.
meeting other people, other cultures,
conocer gente, otras culturas,
and that's what we did.
y eso es lo que hicimos.
with a group of people,
con un grupo de personas
your own household.
and a meaningful life.
y darle sentido a su vida.
y necesitamos vida social.
and do some shopping,
hacer compras, conocer gente.
have a beer with friends.
una cerveza con amigos.
to go out every day,
le gusta salir a diario,
en los alrededores.
rather go to the restaurant,
ir a un restaurante,
and celebrate life.
con amigos y celebrar la vida.
she takes a walk in the park,
y se sienta en un banco al sol,
and sit next to her
y se siente a su lado
of society, that you belong.
de la sociedad, que tienes tu lugar.
with advanced dementia.
la ventana de mi oficina.
coming from one side,
que venía de un lado,
and they met at the corner.
y se encontraron en la esquina.
to have a conversation with them,
traté de conversar con ellas,
and I saw them talking,
and each went their own way.
y cada una se fue por su lado.
meeting other people
encontrarnos con otra gente
dementia can live,
muy avanzados de demencia puede vivir,
and the volunteers working there
y voluntarios que trabajan allí
how to do their professional work
cómo hacer su trabajo
in the life of our residents.
naturalidad a la vida de los residentes.
has to provide everything
tiene que proporcionar
necesita para hacer su trabajo.
that dares to do this.
que se atreva a hacerlo,
than we always have done
a como siempre se han hecho
hacer en todas partes,
has in our country.
tradicional en nuestro país.
con el presupuesto estatal.
with thinking different,
que está frente a ti
does this person need now.
esa persona necesita ahora.
it's about thinking different,
and that costs nothing.
it's about making choices.
de tomar decisiones.
what you spend your money on.
en qué gastas el dinero.
as expensive as gray ones."
tan caras como las grises".
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Yvonne van Amerongen - Dementia-care visionaryYvonne van Amerongen is an occupational therapist and a social worker.
Why you should listen
Before 1983, when Yvonne van Amerongen started working for the nursing home Hogewey, she worked in a hospital for psychiatric diseases and in a rehabilitation center. In 1992 she was the care manager of the traditional nursing home Hogewey when the management team started thinking about the vision of care for people living with severe dementia. In 1993, this vision was the basis for the development of what now is the neighborhood The Hogeweyk, with 27 houses for more than 170 seniors with severe dementia. Van Amerongen was the project leader and one of the founders of the vision for excellent care, living and well-being for people with severe dementia and of neighborhood The Hogeweyk.
Van Amerongen now works as a consultant for Be, supporting and advising healthcare organizations, governments, architects and project starters around the world to improve the quality of life of people living with dementia. Be is part of the Vivium Care group (non-profit), also the owner of The Hogeweyk.
Yvonne van Amerongen | Speaker | TED.com