Home4All opens in Kāpiti for people with dementia

Marian and Jan Weststrate. Photo / Rumi Shivaz

Inspired by the healthcare system in the Netherlands, Raumati couple Jan and Marian Weststrate are bringing innovative care models proven to work in their homeland, to Kāpiti.

After a year of renovations and gaining resource consent, Home4All on Raumati Rd has officially opened, providing a daytime programme for people with early and moderate dementia.

Run from Jan and Marian's home with the help of volunteers, the couple created the space to suit the 'green care farms' model of care for people with memory loss, an innovative care model developed in their homeland, the Netherlands.

A day at Home4All in Raumati always starts off with a cup of tea and scones. Photo / Rumi Shivaz

Moving to New Zealand in 2007 with more than 40 years of healthcare experience each, the couple had a desire to share their knowledge with a new healthcare system.

Taking health professionals from New Zealand on tours to the Netherlands to show them different models of care, Jan and Marian found themselves being drawn toward dementia care.

"We saw a big difference between aged care here and aged care in the Netherlands," Jan said.

"To change a big machine is hard so we thought we would take the opportunity ourselves and start small with one of the models we think works."

One of the successful models in the Netherlands is the 'green care farms' approach which uses nature and being outside together, caring for the environment and animals to stimulate the mobility of the visitors in a natural way.

Each day activities like chopping wood keep the visitors to Home4All busy. Photo / Rumi Shivaz

"We are all about our visitors feeling like family and want them to have a meaningful day, whether it's in the garden planting and weeding or building something in the shed, it's about supporting them."

"The main thing is we try to do normal things," Marian said.

"They're most happy when they feel useful.

"We make lunch together, we do the dishes, we weed the garden, tend to the chickens and do activities.

"We help them make things by preparing projects before they arrive but also try to leave as much as possible of the everyday things such as preparing meals, for when everyone's here so there's a purpose.

"In summer we might go for a walk down to the beach, get icecream and walk the dog, just doing what you would do with your family in summer.

Cooking lunch at Home4All. Photo / Rumi Shivaz

"We want to add to the variety of what is offered in Kāpiti for people with memory loss."

Jan said meeting their visitors where they're at is a key part of their approach.

"People with dementia have a different view of reality as you and me.

"What we need to do is get into their reality, because when we're in their reality we can support them.

"If we force them to come into our reality it won't happen. There's a challenge for us to understand them and how they work."

Jan said many people living with dementia drive on feelings and emotions rather than memories.

"When they have a good feeling, they feel at ease and when they have a negative feeling, it separates them, and they can start to withdraw.

"A couple of weeks ago we had a guy who just wanted to dig in the garden.

"He's 84 years old, so I wasn't sure why, but he did it in his own time, at his own pace.

"I said to him, what made you want to do that, and he said it brought back memories of digging the garden with his dad.

"You don't always know why people are doing things and sometimes they don't either but during the process, it comes to the surface."

Home4All focuses on visitors continuing to be active, as people with dementia are losing their memory but not necessarily their skills.

"One of the criteria for coming to us is that people need to be physically independent – we don't offer 24/7 care," Marian said.

"We want to add to the variety of existing day care respite programmes in Kāpiti."

Jan said, "We all have good days and bad days, and that is the same here.

"It's about respecting them for who they are, not stigmatising them and helping them achieve tasks that make them feel valued and useful."

Home4All is currently open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am-4pm, with a max of 10 people attending per day. More days will be added as the service grows.

Visitors need to be diagnosed by a health professional and families interested in their relative attending Home4All can contact jan@home4all.co.nz to set up a visit.

What is Dementia?

Dementia is a progressive disorder where there is a decline in a variety of mental functions. The word dementia is a term that covers a group of disorders of cognition.

However, all forms of dementia are associated with a decline in the ability to function day to day, emotional distress or behaviour changes.

Alzheimers is the most common form of dementia. It usually begins with a decline in memory and the ability to learn new things.

Later, in the course of steady, gradual deterioration, there are problems in other areas, for example, speech, planning or reasoning, recognising objects, and changes in emotions and behaviour.