Page 62 - Bulletin, Vol.82 No.3, October 2023

A HOME FOR “YOUNG PEOPLE” WITH ALZHEIMER’S

The villa, located in Bernex, welcomes people aged 39 to 65 facing memory problems.
A first in Switzerland.

The Hemma house, located in Bernex, was inaugurated on Monday.

Hemma means “home” in Swedish. Hence the name of the infrastructure inaugurated
on Monday. Located in Bernex, the Hemma house is a first in Switzerland. This double
villa with garden welcomes “young people”, i.e. people aged between 39 and 65,
suffering from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. “We prefer to talk about the
fragility of memory,” underlines director Mikaëla Halvarsson.

in Switzerland

According to the Hemma association which is leading this project, while Alzheimer’s
disease or another form of dementia mainly affects seniors, in Switzerland, more than
7,700 affected men and women are under 65, or even much younger. “For those
affected and their loved ones, the emotional, psychological, psychosocial and financial
consequences are particularly heavy.”

The idea germinated around ten years ago in Mikaëla Halvarsson’s head. “During home
experiences as a psychologist and music therapist, I was often confronted with younger
people. Like this 39-year-old man, father of two children aged 8 and 10.” To cope with
the difficulties that illness causes in daily management, the house offers, in the words of
the director, “an alternative between home and institutionalization. It is possible to
spend the day, night, weekend or week there. To just come and have a coffee or to
share a moment there with loved ones. The ground floor could, for example,
accommodate teenagers for a boom!”

Inspired by Nordic countries

Inspired by the Nordic countries, the pilot project aims to create an environment where
disease is as low as possible. The structure has ten places, six of which are already
occupied, by people in their fifties. “Thanks to its tailor-made concept, living in the
Hemma house will cost two to three times less than a place in an EMS,” specifies the
association. Financed by private funds, it wishes to spread this model, why not, to other
cantons.

Source dayFReuro
Published September 19, 2023, 6:05 p.m.

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 82 No.2, 2023-10 60

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