Between 2002 and 2013, the number of Canadian seniors living with dementia increased by 83 percent, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. In 2016, the Alzheimer Society of Canada estimated that more than half a million Canadians were living with dementia and projected that this number would rise by 66 percent by 2031. There is a clear need to consider how to care for this growing population in a way that is both compassionate and effective. Already, other care facilities similar in concept to the Village are beginning to pop up, with communities currently being developed in Vancouver and Comox, BC. All of them are working to answer an urgent question: Could a place where someone has the freedom to live their day as they choose, move around as they like, and walk outside whenever they please be a model for the future of dementia care?

Read more in The Walrus.