There’s no place like home

© Imelda Maurer, cdp July 6, 2009
ilmcdp@yahoo.com

Bill Thomas, M.D. has patented a particular approach to culture change in long-term care. The name given to facilities that follow Thomas’ guidelines is “Green House.”

This particular approach is only one way in which culture change is being implemented in long-term care. There are other models. What they hold in common is that they center on the same values and principles: resident-directed environment. Such approaches result in: HOME as opposed to INSTITUTION; autonomy, dignity, individuality, spontaneity in a nursing home resident’s day; more positive outcomes for nursing home residents; and higher morale and lower turnover among nursing home staff. The whole thing, according to well documented research is budget-neutral, though I suspect, in light of greater resident AND employee satisfaction that there is an overall savings in employee training and in medical costs when a nursing home is HOME and not an INSTITUTION.

The Rochester, NY daily newspaper carried an article on July 6th about one such nursing home in that city. You can access it by clicking on the URL below.

Some particularly pertinent statements from the article include these:

It is imperative that there is a change in the organization’s culture if the “model” is to work, if there is to be real change.

“The movement is also prodded by recognition that people treated like parts on an assembly line fail to thrive.”

“Cottage Grove administrator Cathy Allen, a registered nurse who lives in Honeoye Falls, appreciates the close relationships that can form between staff and residents. Allen recently took Chambers (a nursing home resident with some dementia) to buy prizes for games. On the short trip, Chambers repeatedly asked Allen how she had slept and how her day had been, and Allen said she answered cheerfully, again and again. Then at one point Chambers said, "I like being with you."”


http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090706/NEWS01/907060321/1002/NEWS