There was a nursing home in my home town that had a rural American analogue: a car that didn't start in the nursing home's back yard.

The anecdotes I heard weren't about rushing home to their families, but rather, using the car for things like getting groceries. Apparently it was a very successful tool.

I can envision future nursing homes with roaring fake Humvees and other SUVs. Fake tube stations where it may apply.

I find it very endearing to be honest. I know how it feels to be lost and confused, wanting to be home. When you're extremely tired, when you've lost a loved one... I feel for these frail older people.

The Aegis assisted living facility in Aptos, CA has a non-running old car installed in the back. Residents can polish it and sit inside.

http://www.aegisliving.com/aegis-living-of-aptos/gallery/

At first I was going to say "what a sad reflection on American culture" (the fact that the car is the enduring anchor of the Alzheimer patient), but then I realized they could use the same single car for all their patients, so it is, in a way, mass transit.

Oh for God's sake! These are OLD people, they remember public transport (which also still exists in Europe). A fake cafe, a fake second hand bookshop, anything that will make them pause and get less agitated.

What made you upset? muyuu's point is that if public transportation wasn't an effective method of transportation when they were younger, the patients won't associate the sign with going home.

And I don't see how a fake cafe or bookshop will attract them? They want to go home, not drink coffee.

If you're going to go to the trouble of making a fake cafe or bookshop, you might as well make the real thing. The point of the fake bus stop is that it's trivially easy to do.

More importantly, the bus stop attracts seniors who are trying to leave the facility, which is dangerous because they aren't able to do so safely, and are likely to end up lost and dying of exposure or exhaustion.

A fake cafe or bookshop wouldn't really be any more useful than the cafeteria or day room that the facility probably already has.

Well, it could be useful to create a more comfortable atmosphere. This hypothetical assisted living center would be set up to look just like a small open air mall surrounded by apartments, except all the workers in all the shops are nurses.

Just to comment on myself: I may have misunderstood the meaning of the word "fake" in this context. A "fake cafe" could still serve coffee, just not to the public at large.

Here in Colombia a fake bus stop would mean buses would use it anyway.

In fact, they still use almost every corner as a bus stop.

The fake bus stop could be on a private road or driveway that the actual buses never travel on.

Hell, the fake bus stop could probably be on a gravel path that doesn't actually connect with public roads, as long as the ends of the path are hidden behind trees.