Flat Sharing for Elderly with Dementia

01.11.2006

 
Parlour games keep the mind young © Angelika Hoffmann

A certain lifestyle previously occupied by students now may become an attractive alternative to elderly people with dementia: flat sharing. Prof. Christian Zippel from the MEDIAN-clinic for geriatrics in Berlin, Germany, observed some groups for people with dementia that live together and presented his results during the care congress at REHACARE. "Flat sharing for elderly people with dementia becomes more and more popular. However, up to now there are no guidelines that determine, for example how the rooms are equipped or how to care for the ill people", explains Zippel.

"Around 200 of these flat sharing groups exist in Berlin with six to eight people on average living there." Very often those in charge of these groups are ambulant nursing service sometimes associations. Living in one of these groups costs on average 3,000 Euro per month.

Due to the concept of living together old people can stay independent longer "These flat sharing groups are all together a good concept with good intentions and a good alternative way of living", thinks Zippel. "However, there is a lack of rules applying to those creating these groups. Guidelines for staff, for the size of flat and rooms or for the design on how, for example, the elderly are being kept occupied each day are lacking.” Without these it is not possible though to control the different institutions in what they do or how money is spent by them.

 
It's like home: "working" at a desk © Angelika
Hoffmann

According to Zippel a solution for this problem could be that the institutions would be controlled volontarily. This is possible with the German association "Self determined living with old age". There, advice and guidelines are being proposed to people in charge of flat sharing groups. However, until now only 30 of the 200 groups in Berlin got registered. "An alternative would be to install a nursing home supervision for the groups. That way the flats could be visited in order to test if everything is going fine ", says Zippel. That would be another main pillar in order to check if the elderly are being cared for properly and is the flats were in a good state.

In Grömitz on the Baltic Sea for example 21 people with dementia live in a shared flat which stays under nursing home supervision. Intrinsically the Residence Grömitzer Höhe is a nursing home with assisted living. However a shared flat was added. Andrea Hoffmann, quality manger of the facility, explains: "We wanted to create something special for people with dementia. Thus we took our smallest care ward and created with the people living there a residential group.”

The flatshare consists of single and double rooms. The walls were painted in warm colours as terracotta or salmon and the rooms were furnished "in such as way as the people are accustomed to at home”. Furthermore the people with dementia have more freedom. "They can sleep as long as they like. At breakfast bread and cold cuts are put on the table so the people can make their own sandwiches”, says the manager. "The old people eat together so that the atmosphere of an extended family can be created.”

 
Occupants are not alone. They meet at the
"marketplace" © Angelika Hoffmann

The people are looked after by two caregivers and somebody who attends to them and engages them in activities. Tasks like washing up are shared and board games are played. "People with dementia know that there are some things they cannot do. However, when performing easy tasks they realize: I can still do something”, knows Hoffmann.

In the shared flats more space for ordinary life and emotions is created. Thus on the Baltic Sea two people have found each other and now live in a shared room. As the bottom line of the care congress Professor Ingo Füsgen, one of the moderators of the congress, stated: "Residential groups are not cheaper than nursing homes - but more human.”

REHACARE.de