ENCOURAGING dementia sufferers to wait at a fake bus stop and cradle plastic dolls might seem an unusual kind of therapy, but staff at one North care home say it is having a positive effect.

Cleveland View Care Centre, in Middlesbrough, has created a stimulating indoor “world” for its residents.

Its second floor has been transformed into a surreal haven in an attempt to meet the needs of adults over 55 with Alzheimer’s disease.

In the confines of a few corridors, staff have created a brightly coloured garden, pub, cafe, cinema, oldfashioned parlour, hairdressers, and even a children’s nursery, all accessible from its own bus stop.

Bondgate, a national care home provider, is piloting its new dementia care system at the centre.

The bus stop is only one of the many features introduced by staff after research.

Centre manager Odette Crawford said that if residents were faced with a long, featureless corridor, they could feel lost.

She said: “They spend a lot of the day wandering as they are searching for something; searching for a purpose.

“Before the bus stop was brought in, some people would say over and over again that they wanted to go home and nothing could distract them.

“Now, when they say they are looking for their husband or parents, they can go and wait on a bench at the bus stop.

“It has eased their frustration, knowing that there is somewhere they can go.

“After a few minutes, they have often forgotten why they are there and focus on going somewhere else.”

The idea, which was first tried at a centre in Dusseldorf, Germany, has been adopted by several care home in that country, but is still relatively new in Britain.

Bedroom doors have been fitted with brass knockers and painted the same colour as residents’ own front doors, many decorated with snapshots of occupants in their prime to act as a guide.

Miss Crawford said: “They relate back to early part of their lives – many reminisce about their 20s and 30s.”

A cinema room shows classic silver screen movies, and the Coach and Horses pub hosts games evenings and quiz nights.

Miss Crawford said: “The environment is there to stimulate and offer conversation between themselves.

“They are definitely talking more now and reminiscing about the past.

The atmosphere is much calmer.”

In one corner of the sitting room is a Silver Cross pram with an assortment of lifesized plastic dolls.

Doll therapy is now widely recognised as benefiting people with Alzheimer’s.

Miss Crawford said one woman had adopted two of them and calls them her “babies”.

Neil Hunt, the chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said home is where the heart is, and that for 250,000 people with dementia, their home was a care home.

He said: “It is always greatly encouraging to hear about care homes that aim to prioritise person-centred care.