Village where talking homes ease dementia: Voice prompts on front doors in £200million project to help the elderly
- Britain’s first dementia village will be built on St George’s Barracks in Rutland
- Houses in some areas will have the same coloured doors or distinctive chimneys
- Developers are also hoping to install ‘smart’ street signs with special sensors
Britain’s first dementia-friendly village with talking houses and adjustable street signs is being developed.
The community of St George’s Barracks in Rutland will eventually be home to 5,300 residents.
The roads will be in a grid layout to help residents find their way and paths will have sloping ramps rather than steps to prevent falls.
St George’s Barracks, seven miles from the town of Oakham in Rutland, East Midlands, is currently an army base. It is due to be decommissioned by 2022 and the 2,200-home development is expected to take between ten and 15 years and cost more than £200million
One of the most important features will be voice prompts on some front doors, to tell dementia patients they have arrived at the right home.
Houses in certain areas will have the same coloured doors or distinctive chimneys to help residents navigate.
Developers are also hoping to install ‘smart’ street signs with sensors which enable them to adjust their height to someone’s eye level.
The radical plans will be announced today by Communities Secretary James Brokenshire, who believes communities like this can help patients live ‘safely’ and ‘independently’ for longer.
Addressing a housing conference in Manchester, he will speak about his mother, Joan, who has dementia and his awareness of its ‘devastating impact’.
Although other communities have been adapted to be dementia-friendly, this will be the first village built from scratch to accommodate patients’ needs.
Pavements will be wider than usual to accommodate walking frames and lettering on shop frontages and road signs will be in extra-large type.
Up to 850,000 people in the UK are living with dementia but this number is predicted to rise to more than 2million over the next 30 years.
St George’s Barracks, seven miles from the town of Oakham in Rutland, East Midlands, is currently an army base. It is due to be decommissioned by 2022 and the 2,200-home development is expected to take between ten and 15 years and cost more than £200million.
Houses in certain areas will have the same coloured doors or distinctive chimneys to help residents navigate. Developers are also hoping to install ‘smart’ street signs with sensors which enable them to adjust their height to someone’s eye level
Once built the village will also provide cheap housing for hundreds of families, young couples and professionals. Mr Brokenshire said: ‘I know too well what a devastating impact dementia has, and my own personal experience seeing my mother’s struggle has shown me how vital it is that there is the right support available.
‘Often people see dementia as the end – but my vision is that with communities like this, people can live independently and safely for as long as possible.
‘We need to do more than just build extra homes in this country – and also build inclusive communities that are adapted to meet a range of needs.’
Mr Brokenshire has previously spoken of finding his mother sobbing, as she had just remembered his father was dead.
Tamsin Fraser of the Alzheimer’s Society welcomed the move and said: ‘We hope this proposal will inspire even more towns and cities to follow suit, so people with dementia are embraced rather than excluded.’
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