Reinventing The Nursing Home

A new “culture change” movement in long-term care is reinventing the archaic model of nursing homes.  These hospital-like institutions most of us dread can be transformed, which will improve the quality of life for both residents and staff. 

One leader of this growing movement is Dr. Bill Thomas, a geriatrician in Ithaca, N.Y., who believes traditional nursing homes should be replaced with a model he labeled the Green House, a home of 10 to 12 elders, assisted by specifically trained staff.  The Green House is a leading example of a new trend in person-centered care that has been percolating for 15 years.  The Green House is known best for its homey environment, family-style dining room with hearth and comfy chairs.  Researchers are further finding that Green Houses not only provide a higher quality of care, but are also less expensive as residents have fewer hospitalizations and are able to maintain higher functioning.  Green Houses have higher occupancy rates and increased levels of resident and family satisfaction.

Today, with funding support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and NCB Capital Impact, 170 Green Houses in 27 states are operating, and dozens more are in development.  While this is progress, it is only a fraction of the nation’s nearly 16,000 nursing homes. 

See Beth Baker, Reimagining What A Nursing Home Can Be, Forbes, Dec. 19, 2014.