Wicking Dementia and Research Centre Co-Director Professor James Vickers and Glenview CEO Lucy O’Flaherty at the Glenorchy site of the Australia-first project.
Plans have been unveiled for a $25 million ground-breaking Australian first suburban village, designed to recreate real life experiences for those living with dementia.
Tasmania has the fastest ageing population in Australia and dementia is the second leading cause of death in the nation.
Without a medical breakthrough, it is expected by 2056 the number of people living with dementia will increase to approximately 1.1million.
Korongee is a partnership between Glenview, HESTA, Social Ventures Australia and to be built with the assistance of the Commonwealth Government, with the village structure to be based on a typical Tasmanian cul de sac streetscape that allows residents to feel at home and wander freely within a safe and supported environment.
Glenview Chairman Iain Weir said Korongee, located in Glenorchy, would be the first of its kind in Australia to offer this proven and cutting-edge model of care.
“In essence Korongee will create an authentic suburban village environment for those living with dementia, with 15 demographically tailored homes set within a small town context complete with streets, a supermarket, cinema, café, beauty salon and gardens,” Mr Weir said.
“The Korongee village concept draws on a range of international best practice models, particularly the dementia village of De Hogeweyk in the Netherlands while contextualising this into a uniquely Tasmanian experience.
“It has been shown that residents at the De Hogeweyk dementia village live longer, eat better and take fewer medications and we hope to see similar transformative health benefits at Korongee.”
Construction is set to commence in early 2018, with the site to be complete by mid-to-late 2019.
Tasmanian Business Reporter 
Leave a Reply