Broadcast Retirement Network’s Jeffrey Snyder discusses the plans for a new dementia village in the U.S. with Agrace’s Lynne Sexten.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Joining me now is Lynne Sexten from Agrace.
Lynne, it’s so great to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning. Glad to be here, Jeff.
Thanks for having me. Well, I’m really excited for your community. I’m excited for so many families out there that maybe have a loved one with dementia.
I want to take a step back, though, and just ask maybe for some definition. What is a dementia village?
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
So the way we envision it is a place where folks who have moderate to severe dementia can continue to live a life with the kind of daily rhythms that they were accustomed to. The things that they did day in and day out prior to their dementia diagnosis, rather than what is so much more standard in our country when people go to memory care facilities, their life gets a lot more limited. And what we want to create is an actual neighborhood, a village, where people can really continue to safely engage with the rhythms of normal daily life.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And in your mind and in the organization’s mind, I mean, there’ll be retail shops and events and, you know, just be like living in a small town or a village.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
Correct. It’s really going to be modeled after kind of small town USA is kind of what it will feel like, and it will have 8 normal sized homes that you would kind of see in anywhere in America. Each home will house up to 8 residents.
And those homes will all be in a village that’ll have a grocery store, a theater, a hair salon. It’ll have a big pub and grill. It’ll have a coffee shop.
And then it’ll have lots of space for activities that not only the residents that live there can avail themselves of, but we will also have the village available to between 40 and 50 what we’re calling day club members. And these are folks that don’t live there. They might still live with a spouse or with a child, maybe, but they come to the village and they get to enjoy all of its amenities each day.
And then they just go back home at night.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
This sounds like groundbreaking. I mean, is there anywhere else, either in the United States or in the world that has taken created this model? It sounds to me like it’s one of the first of its kind.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
So, its genesis is out of the Netherlands, and we’ve spent a lot of time working with the Hogwick dementia village just outside of Amsterdam. And their village has been around for a few decades, and it has demonstrated fantastic results and quality of life for the people that live there. And other developed countries have replicated this model successfully.
So, Norway, Australia, Canada, China, Italy, and others, but not here in the US. And so we have spent considerable time with the folks at Hogwick to develop a model that really tries to replicate some of their secret sauce.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
I mean, I love this because you’re not putting these people, and I don’t take this the wrong way, but throwing them away. You’re actually bringing them together. There’s got to be mutual benefit of doing that.
I would imagine that since you’ve announced this, I’m sure your phones, your email addresses, your texts are kind of going through the roof in terms of interest. There have to be plenty of families out there that would love to take advantage of this. And I got to say, I would love living with seven other people in the house, like the real world.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
Right. It absolutely is. Instead of kind of maybe being alone in your home or in the memory care facilities in our country, the people that work there are angels.
And they are doing their darndest to bring a fulfilling life to those with dementia. It’s just the way the system is structured that’s not resulting in that. I would rather live somewhere like what we’re building.
If I ever have a dementia diagnosis, this is the kind of place I would want to live.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And if you find success, clearly this model has been successful elsewhere, so there’s no doubt that it will be successful here. Would you envision a test period and then trying to create different communities in all 50 states and maybe American territories like Puerto Rico?
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
So this is definitely the proof of concept, initial foray. And we have been asked that question so many times. But, yeah, we have to demonstrate that we can make it happen in the United States.
Others have tried, and they have ended up modifying the model so much that by the time they start accepting residents, the folks at Hogwick tell us they’ve really deviated from the model so much and are much more closer to the U.S.’s very medicalized way of caring for those with dementia.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And will there be lessons? So, you know, I think the people, given we’re an aging population, many of us, you know, we’re going to have so many people over 65. And I know the Congress, local leaders, every state has a Department of Aging.
Maybe the time is really right for this. And these lessons that you’re going to create with this new community will be able to filter around the country. You’ll get some assistance from local and national politicians.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
I sure hope so. I believe that if what we’re going to offer is the exact same price point as other memory care facilities. So it’s not going to cost X amount more.
It’ll be at the same level. But what we hope to be able to do is provide so much more enrichment and an ability to feel like I can make my own autonomous decisions. I was supposed to go to play Mahjong today, but instead I feel like just sitting around and reading the newspaper or working on a puzzle.
And I can do that. I don’t have to be on this regimented schedule. We’re going to do all of that enrichment at the same price point.
So it is my hope that this proliferates.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And last question for you. I could talk to you about this for hours, so we’ll have to bring you back as this unfolds. But what about, there’s been so many studies around Alzheimer’s and dementia.
You’re in the great state of Wisconsin. I would imagine that some of the universities that are focused on this type of research may have an interest. I’m not saying that we want to make these people guinea pigs, but there’s a lot to be learned here in academia about how it’s being applied.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
Absolutely. One of the, I think, kind of cool things that we’re doing as part of this is we’re creating workforce housing. And so we’re partnering with these very universities to have college students who are pursuing healthcare degrees actually live on in the village and get free room and board in exchange.
They work a certain number of shifts every month for us. So that’s introducing the notion of caring for people with dementia to a much broader group of college students than might otherwise have been exposed to it.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And you’re exposing them, but it’s kind of like this internship. It’s only going to benefit whomever they provide care for. There’s so much watching this, they don’t live in the area, but they want to apply.
Can they apply to be one of your caregivers and possibly live in the village? I would imagine you’re going to be deluged.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
Yeah, yeah. So we break ground in April, and we hope that people will be starting to move in in September of 2027. So we’re not quite yet taking applications or creating that official wait list, but people can go to a grace.org.
And there’s an opportunity to fill in where you want to be kept up to date on all the happenings and as we get closer to our opening.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, well, Lynne, I’m excited. I can’t wait for this to unfold, but we wish you and the EGRACE team all the best, and we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.
Lynne Sexten, Agrace
Thanks so much, Jeff. Appreciate chatting with you.
