Mass. VA builds park for veterans with Alzheimer’s

There’s a new park next to the Community Living Center at the Brockton Veterans Affair Medical Center. It has lush green grass, overhead shade, a waterfall, park benches and tables with a painted checkers board, hand rails and fencing. A sound system can even broadcast Red Sox games.

And it’s all for veterans with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

And it was all the staff’s idea.

“As you know, dementia patients wander,” says VA Boston Healthcare System Director Vincent Ng to The Enterprise. “The staff thought about this safe environment and submitted a proposal and a project. … I think this park came out fantastic in terms of our focus on patient-centered care."

The Brockton, Mass. facility is a 120-bed nursing home providing transitional care and long stays for eligible veterans. Park renovations cost nearly $600,000 and were funded by the federal government.

 


Topics: Alzheimer's/Dementia , Design