A German retirement home which has stepped back in time by recreating the Communist era has seen extraordinary improvements in the health of some of its patients who suffer from dementia.
Some residents of the Alexa Seniors’ Residence in Dresden are said to have begun to live independently again after part of the care home was decorated in the style of the former East Germany, the Eastern bloc state which existed between 1949 and 1990.
Loud 1970s wallpaper, unattractive furniture and other items from the time including large cassette players and cookers are among the props in specially designed “memory rooms” which have transported residents back to a point in their lives which they recall well, giving them confidence.
As a result, some of them can now feed and wash themselves again. There are reports that some bedridden patients have begun walking.
The retirement home has its own shop selling Communist-era products and even displays a portrait of Erich Honecker (pictured), who led East Germany from 1971 until its collapse in 1989. Many of the retro items in the home have been sourced from ebay and local flea markets.
Gunter Wolfram, director of the Alexa Seniors’ Residence, said the situation happened by chance.
“We wanted to set up a projector room to show old films, and we got hold of a GD-era scooter as a prop,” he told Bild newspaper. “Suddenly, many of the residents with dementia seemed to come to life. They knew the workings of the scooter and how to fill it with petrol, and could remember their first rides.”
The results were also striking to Alicia Schöppe, an occupational therapist at the home.
“It was bit like in the movie Awakenings,” Ms Schöppe told Bild, referring to the 1990 film starring Robin Williams and Robert de Niro in which a doctor discovers how to resuscitate patients suffering from catatonia.
“Many of them have started eating independently again, they go to the toilet on their own, even some who were bed-ridden have got up.”
The move has been a commercial success for the home as well. “Since we’ve had the memory rooms, our registrations have gone up,” Mr Wolfram added.
