Work has begun on the new dementia-friendly community based in Dover, known as 'The Harmonia Village'.
The development model is designed to allow people living with dementia to live independently as possible.
The six semi-detached blocks will hold five beds be renovated and house 30 beds for elderly residents.
Each block will hold five beds in specially adapted flats – with trained healthcare assistants on site.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on the site in Randolph Road, Dover, to celebrate the start of the building work, and the team behind the project were joined by the Major of Dover.
Known officially as Community Areas of Sustainable Care and Dementia Excellence in Europe (CASCADE), the dementia village is part of a wider project that involves partners from the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The dementia village will provide longer term and short-term respite care which will fully engage with the local community. The wider project will be the basis for passing shared learning and cross-border excellence in dementia care for the future.
In 2015 there were 850,000 people living with the condition in the UK and by 2025 it is estimated that this will have grown to nearly 1,150,000.
Dementia now costs the UK economy £26.3 billion a year.
