Page 40 - SFHN March 2018

HEALTHCARE REAL ESTATE, CONSTRUCTION, DESIGN & FACILITY PLANNING

EmpathiCare Village Designed to Elevate Strengths

of Individuals with Neurocognitive Disorders

BY VANESSA ORR cept created in Hogewey, the
Netherlands, where dementia sufferers
In early 2020, Miami Jewish Health have far more freedom and access than
will open the S. Donald Sussman those housed in a typical memory care
EmpathiCare Village, the first residential unit.
community of its kind in the U.S. for According to Agronin, locked institu-
individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and tional units, while secure, tend to be con-
other forms of dementia. fining, especially for more active individ-
Unlike more institutionalized settings, uals. This can lead to mood and behav-
where secured, structured units limit res- ioral problems.
idents’ freedom, the EmpathiCare Village “The Village concept opens this up
is designed to allow people to live as nor- completely. It’s a familiar setting that pro-
mal a life as possible. vides freedom of movement and also pro-
“The EmpathiCare Village is created vides a town square area where people
with a ‘purposed’ design that not only can express themselves and interact with
meets the needs of its residents, but each other,” he said.
leverages and elevate their strengths,” “The design also will encourage family
said Dr. Marc Agronin, director of mental members and others in the community
health services, clinical research, and the to visit,” he added. “Many people don’t
outpatient memory center at Miami like to go to assisted living facilities or
Jewish Health. “Residents here will bene- nursing homes because it can be painful
fit from both structured daily living as to see their loved ones in those condi- founder and CIO of the Paloma Fund, exist here,” Sussman said. “People are
well as meaningful and joyful activities tions. Our design does the opposite; who donated $15 million to help the living much longer, and at some point,
and routines, such as shopping at a store, here, the emphasis is on the strengths of EmpathiCare Village become a reality. many will lose their cognitive abilities.
eating in a café, visiting a salon or partic- our residents who are actively engaged in “When Dr. Agronin told me about the As caring people - a caring society - what
ipating in a creative arts program.” meaningful interactions.” village in the Netherlands, I couldn’t are we doing to help them?
The design for the EmpathiCare This philosophy attracted the attention believe that something similar didn’t
Village is rooted in a similar village con- of philanthropist S. Donald Sussman, Continued on following page

40 March 2018 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News