At the end of the conference on December 11 bringing together scientists working on the Village Landais Alzheimer Henri Emmanuelli (VLAHE) located in Dax, the testimony of Michel Unzel, whose mother is a resident here, summarizes: “I was able to compare with two retirement homes where she was previously. My mother was no longer laughing nor walking, she was taking very small steps in her room, she was very withdrawn, worried and distressed. When we arrived here and I saw the wide open spaces, I was worried. And then I saw her little by little smiling, laughing again, walking around with her walker. It brings such a joy! People don’t know the impact this disease also has on the relatives."
No cognitive decline in the first 12 months
Beyond this example which says a lot, the scientific study presented has endeavored to question more than 160 Villagers, aged 42 to 104, every six months since more than two years. “The first results are very encouraging and the trend is starting to consolidate as the number of people included is significant,” explains Professor Hélène Amieva who heads the Inserm-University of Bordeaux team evaluating the impact of the Village on the health of residents, caregivers, nursing staff and volunteers. “Over the first six to 12 months, it is spectacular: there is no cognitive decline, no deterioration in quality of life measured with traditional markers, and we note stability scores for anxiety and depressive symptoms", continues the doctor of neuroscience and neuropharmacology, highlighting results which contrast sharply with all international publications about "classic" institutions during where cognitive functions of patients Alzheimer's decrease rapidly.
About caregivers, the feeling of burden does not generally decrease with entry into a retirement home. In the Village, the results are once again quite spectacular, with a clear reduction in the burden on caregivers, and a feeling of relief shown by families. This is accompanied in particular by a reduction in the consumption of antidepressants and anxiolytics from six months.
Comparative study of 11 Landes nursing homes
If this first scientific study in the world in a village of this kind has not been completed and therefore not yet published, these are “results striking and surprising enough to be shared today,” declared the professor of psychogerontology. whose teams have started the same work in parallel in 11 Landes nursing homes to “see what is going better or worse in relation to these establishments”.
In the Village's everyday life, Dr Gaëlle Marie-Bailleul, psychogeriatrician and referring doctor at the Village, sees her hypotheses confirmed on the impact of the philosophy of care and support offered in this living space. “The first principle is the freedom to come and go, we give residents the opportunity to do so, with a leitmotif: to live together as at home by mobilizing remaining capacities and increasing social interactions (shopping, meal preparation , hair salon). on site, etc.). Here, we take the risk of falling, of cutting ourselves with a kitchen knife, of eating a little too much since the fridge is open (…) We are not THE model but it is a model which is close to "being the good here", she declared, alongside emeritus professors from the University of Bordeaux, Bernard Bouliac who chairs the ethics committee of the VLAHE, and Jean-François Dartigues, who heads the scientific committee and wishes to "open the research next year to other aspects that go beyond the simple comparative evaluation of the evolution of patients, caregivers, caregivers and volunteers."
“Inspire other territories throughout France”
While waiting for the finalization of the medico-economic studies on the cost-effectiveness of this new type of structure, including data on the medicine consumption of Villagers, repreentative want the VLAHE to inspire other establishments. “It is a stone to build the edifice of care for the elderly”, noted the president of the Landse Department Council, Xavier Fortinon, welcoming the first results “very encouraging to fuel the reflection of public authorities and see if this model is duplicable ".
In conclusion, in a pre-recorded video, the Minister of Solidarity and Families, Aurore Bergé, said “all the good things about this unique project in France”: “this Landes initiative must be able to inspire other territories throughout France, in France and overseas territories."
In France, three projects are underway in Champagne, Martinique and Brittany.
