Imagine a neighborhood where people living with dementia shop at a local market, sit at a pub with friends, and enjoy clubs tailored to their lifelong passions. This is not a fantasy—it’s reality in The Hogeweyk®, the groundbreaking “dementia village” in the Netherlands that’s changing everything we thought we knew about long-term care.
What started in Weesp as a radical idea now fuels a global movement: rethinking how we treat, support, and live alongside people with dementia. Instead of institutions that isolate and dehumanize, this model creates communities that prioritize autonomy, familiarity, and joy.
The Hogeweyk® is a licensed skilled nursing facility near Amsterdam—but you wouldn’t know it by looking. With 27 small-scale homes, cobblestone walkways, a grocery store, theater, pub, and gardens, it looks and feels like a regular Dutch neighborhood. But all 188 residents live with advanced dementia, and the entire design—from staffing to architecture—is intentional.
The community’s core philosophy is built on three pillars:
To understand the Hogeweyk® model, consider the story of Mr. Van Ey—a resident who thrived there until his passing. A man of rural background, he lived in a small household with others who shared his lifestyle preferences. He walked to the supermarket daily with staff, cooked traditional Dutch meals, smoked cigars with friends, and attended Friday bingo at the neighborhood center. He died peacefully in his home, not in a hospital.
In this village, care workers know residents’ full life stories. Staff are consistent, trained, and deeply embedded in each home, enabling them to offer intuitive, personalized support without rigid checklists or institutional routines.
Every aspect of The Hogeweyk® is tailored for dignity. Residents live in households of six or seven people—small enough to foster calm, friendship, and shared responsibility. Kitchens are real, not industrial. Gardens are accessible and unlocked. Front doors open to real streets, where residents must decide: Do I need my coat today?
The village includes over 35 clubs—classical music, art, baking, even disco. Residents choose their schedules. They don’t just "receive care"; they live. They contribute. They belong.
In South Bend, Indiana, Milton Village is showing that the Hogeweyk® model is not just transferable—it’s transformative. Led by Angel Baginske, RN, the center adapted an old hospice house into a bustling dementia village within an adult day center format.
Milton Village features a town square with a beauty salon, movie theater, library, pub, and café. The center offers over 35 clubs and a vibrant, volunteer-powered community space. Most importantly, it’s unlocked. People are free to leave—but they don’t. They stay. They’re engaged. They choose how to spend their time.
This didn’t happen overnight. It took extensive training, a cultural shift, and buy-in from staff and caregivers. But it worked. Staff turnover dropped. Clients began to flourish. And the village became a true reflection of possibility in American memory care.
The Hogeweyk®—and communities like Milton Village—embrace what Eloy van Hal, Hogeweyk® founder, calls “positive health”: the ability to adapt and self-direct in the face of life’s challenges. That means letting people take normal risks, like walking alone or deciding whether to smoke. It means asking not, “Is this the safest?” but “Is this a good life?”
Instead of overmedicating or over-monitoring, these communities support each person in living a meaningful final chapter. In the Hogeweyk®, residents live longer, stay healthier, and die peacefully—often in better shape than their counterparts in institutional models.
This isn’t just about design. It’s about philosophy. Vision. Courage. As Eloy says, “Don’t start with finances. Start with vision.” The rest will follow.
If you’re a care provider, administrator, architect, or advocate, there’s no better time to ask: What would it take to bring this model to our community?
Start by downloading the Compassionate Touch White Paper, which offers a practical roadmap for person-centered care and quality-of-life-focused training.
Or connect with AGE-u-cate to explore experiential programs like Dementia Live®, which help spark the empathy needed to ignite change within organizations and systems.
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