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The Department made the location official during a meeting of the steering committee bringing together the project partners.
After a detailed study of 4 sites (2 in the town of Marsan and 2 in Grand Dax) carried out by the urban planning firm Samazuzu, the town of Dax, specifically the area known as ‘Darrigade’, was chosen to host the first ‘Alzheimer’s village’ in France, which will house 120 residents suffering from the disease.
The architectural competition has just been launched, said Monique Lubin, Vice-President responsible for the on-profit sector at the Departmental Council of Landes.
The idea for this pilot village in France, with came from Henri Emmanuelli, President of the Departmental Council of Landes, is inspired by the Dutch model in Weesp, near Amsterdam, created in 2009.
The aim is for Alzheimer’s patients to live a normal life for as long as possible, with a non-pharmacological approach and not surrounded by white coats, but under observation by healthcare professionals and volunteers. It’s a secure environment with small housing units, coffee shops, a grocery store and even a hair salon.
120 volunteers will be required to support the 120 residents for this village to run smoothly. The mayor of Dax, Gabriel Bellocq, emphasised that the local network of over 400 non-profit organisations will be called on to help the village, which will be located in the south-east of Dax, near Narrosse, ‘be part of life in the town’.
Elisabeth Bonjean, President of the communauté d’agglomération [urban community] of Grand Dax, welcomed the ‘right choice’ of the biggest spa town in France, which recently won a Silver Economy award.
This ‘Landes project, and also a national project’, which ‘will mark a turning point in the management of this disease’, was formally launched last September, on World Alzheimer’s Day, by Laurence Rossignol, Secretary of State for the Elderly and Independence.
