Senate
Briefing
Concludes
It’s
Time
to
Reinvent
Long
Term
Care
with
Eden
Alternative
Website:
www.edenalt.com
Nov.
11,
2000
-
At
a
briefing
for
the
Senate
Special
Committee
on
Aging
last
September,
a
group
of
visionary
leaders
told
how
they
plan
to
transform
long-term
care
for
frail
seniors
through
the
creation
of
small
homes
that
are
“warm,
smart
and
green."
Dr.
William
H.
Thomas,
founder
of
The
Eden
Alternative™,
announced
the
official
start
of
The
Green
House
Project
at
the
well-attended
briefing.
"There
is
a
crisis
in
long-term
care
for
which
there
are
no
easy
solutions,"
Thomas
said.
"The
time
has
come
to
reinvent
the
long-term
care
environment
in
America
for
the
21st
century.
We
appreciate
the
attention
the
Senate
Special
Committee
on
Aging
has
paid
to
long-term
care
and
for
their
interest
in
innovative
ways
of
caring
for
our
mothers
and
fathers,
and
for
ourselves."
The
New
York
State
Department
of
Health
has
given
Dr.
Thomas
permission
to
design,
build
and
test
the
Green
House
model
of
care.
The
project
will
empty
a
hospital-based,
skilled
nursing
facility
in
Utica
and
relocate
the
residents
into
"Green
Houses."
The
houses
will
be
small
(six-
to
eight-person)
community
homes
where
people
requiring
skilled
nursing
services
can
live
and
receive
the
care
they
need.
Each
of
the
houses
will
be
linked
to
a
sophisticated
health
care
delivery
network
(Faxton-St.
Luke’s
Healthcare
System
of
Utica)
and
employ
The
Eden
Alternative™
care
and
management
concepts.
They
will
also
make
extensive
use
of
technology
and
provide
skilled
care
at
a
similar
cost
to
the
traditional
nursing
home.
Sandy
Ransom,
RN,
MSHP,
director
of
the
Institute
for
Quality
Improvement
in
Long
Term
Health
Care
at
Southwest
Texas
State
University,
shared
research
findings
that
show
positive
changes
in
physical/mental
status
of
current
nursing
home
residents,
as
well
as
greater
staff
satisfaction,
in
homes
where
The
Eden
Alternative™
is
practiced.
"These
data
can
provide
a
foundation
from
which
new,
more
humane
and
effective
models
of
long-term
care
and
management
such
as
The
Green
House
Project
can
be
designed,"
Ransom
said.
Robyn
Stone,
executive
director
of
the
Institute
for
the
Future
of
Aging
Services
in
Washington,
DC,
sees
the
project
as
a
possible
solution
to
the
current
crisis
in
recruiting
and
retaining
nursing
home
staff.
"The
Green
House
Project
provides
the
kind
of
working
environment
and
culture
that
are
conducive
to
developing
and
sustaining
a
qualified,
committed
workforce,"
Stone
said.
In
describing
how
technology
contributes
to
making
a
smaller
home
possible,
architect
and
President/CEO
of
San
Francisco-based
informed,
inc.
Carrie
Byles
said,
"Imagine
residents
who
still
do
not
see
themselves
as
computer
literate,
but
yet
who
are
able
to
control
lights,
shades,
bed
and
TV
through
a
voice-activated
internet
appliance
next
to
the
bed."
She
also
noted
that
"remote
care
possibilities"
such
as
monitoring
devices
and
enhanced
communications
tools
are
probably
the
most
essential
"in
making
this
disbursed
network
of
homes
possible."
"In
order
to
thrive,
people
need
a
balance
between
high
tech
and
yellow
smiley
faces
on
a
sticker,"
said
Ann
R.
Howie,
ACSW,
who
is
animal
assisted
therapy
services
director
for
the
Delta
Society
of
New
York
City.
"Is
it
possible
for
healthcare
to
find
and
provide
that
balance?
The
answer
is
a
resounding
yes!"
The
project
is
supported
by
the
Fan
Fox
and
Leslie
R.
Samuels
Foundation
of
New
York
City.
The
Eden
Alternative™
is
an
educational
movement
famous
for
its
emphasis
on
changing
institutional
environments
into
habitats
for
human
beings.
Through
adding
plants,
companion
animals
and
children
as
well
as
training
staff
in
a
new
philosophy
of
caring,
the
Eden
Alternative™
has
successfully
transformed
hundreds
of
long-term
care
facilities
since
its
founding
in
1992.