[Clodfobble]

Fake Bus Stop for Alzheimer's Patients

A German nursing home has created a pretend bus stop to prevent Alzheimer's patients from wandering off. The bus stop, outside the Benrath Senior Centre in Dusseldorf, is an exact replica of a standard stop but no buses call there.

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"It sounds funny," said Old Lions Chairman Franz-Josef Goebel, "but it helps. Their short-term memory hardly works at all, but the long-term memory is still active. They know the green and yellow bus sign and remember that waiting there means they will go home."

"We will approach them and say that the bus is coming later today and invite them in to the home for a coffee," said Mr. Neureither. "Five minutes later they have completely forgotten they wanted to leave."

The idea has proved so successful that it has now been adopted by several other old folks' homes across Germany.