Official News page 5

REAL LIFE NEWS: THE BUS STOP TO NOWHERE

by Hazed

What use is a bus stop when no busses ever stop there? None at all, you might think, but you would be wrong. The bus stop is outside an old people's home in Dusseldorf, Germany, and although it's a complete fake, it serves a very important - but rather sad - purpose.

It's there because patients at the Benrath Senior Centre who have Alzheimer's disease are inclined to wander and often leave the centre. When they get outside they see the bus stop and go and wait there for a bus. When staff notice someone is missing they can just go outside to the stop and collect them again, which is much easier than having to scour all of the neighboring streets.

A spokesman said, "It sounds funny, but it helps. Our members are 84 years old on average. 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."

Staff approach them at the fake stop and say that the bus is coming later, and invite them into the home for a coffee. Five minutes later they have completely forgotten that they ever wanted to leave.

This poignant idea has proved so successful that it has now been adopted by several other homes across Germany.

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