Exemplary Model of Nursing Home Care ~ Green Houses

 

 

“The Green House® is a revolutionary new model of care developed by our founder, Dr. Bill Thomas. The Green House model takes the ideas and Principles of the Eden Alternative and starts from the ground up to create small houses for 6-10 older adults who require skilled nursing care and who want to live a rich life” (www.edenalt.org, 2021).

According to researcher and author Rob Waters, residents in Green Houses had better outcomes controlling CV-19 compared to other long-term care facilities. Although the study is small-scale, it provides a thoughtful comparison of two models of care.

Although the “asylum model” predominates nursing home design and philosophy, Dr. Bill Thomas has been promoting his revolutionary “humane” Eden Alternative since 1991. Later renamed Green Houses, they are vastly different than traditional nursing homes where residents are stripped of dignity, individualism, and autonomy. They get up when they want to, eat when they want to eat and are less bored and lonely than those in traditional nursing homes. Green House staff, who do not wear uniforms or have medical carts in the hallways, are called “shahbazim” and one shahbaz is assigned per cottage, interacting closely with residents and rotating among the houses. Green Houses are located throughout the United States. If you are interested, please access the website below to learn more. AgeDoc

Waters, R. (2021, March Open Access). The big idea behind a new model of small nursing homes. Health Affairs, 40(3). doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00081

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00081

Additional Resources Related to the Green House Project:

Green House Project https://www.thegreenhouseproject.org/

Eden Alternative https://www.edenalt.org/

PBS Television Transcript, The Eden Alternative. https://www.pbs.org/thoushalthonor/eden/index.html