‘Green House’ Concept Comes to Longview Facility
Published Dec 15, 2008
A new care model emphasizing community living is giving Longview seniors greater control of their lives and improving outcomes.
Buckner Retirement Services has opened one of the nation’s few “Green House” centers that focus on de-institutionalizing long-term care. Instead, Buckner Westminster Place’s Green House offers small group homes that house up to 10 residents, who each have private bedrooms and bathrooms and share an open kitchen and a living area.
Created by geriatrician William Thomas, the model uses an elder assistant called a “shabazim” to help residents.
In Longview, the Green House is part of Buckner Westminster Place, a 16-acre lakeside home for independent living, assisted-living and memory-impaired seniors. Residents of the Holly and Hawthorne homes help establish menus and activities. Nurses visit regularly to assist with medical needs, but residents control their environment and schedule, says Debbie Bravo, administrator and Green House guide.
The home is staffed by at least one nurse at all times working under the direction of the residents’ physicians.
“Traditional nursing care has to change to an environment that gives our elders back control of their daily routine, providing them choices that extend as much independence as possible for as long as possible,” Bravo says.
Story by Roy Moore
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