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"Green Homes" -- personalized nursing homes with few residents and caretakers -- are a growing trend, which responds to substantial demand for more decentralized care. They seem to have many benefits, and other institutions can learn something from their practices, though questions remain regarding the feasibility of a such a program on a national scale.
There are 117 Green Houses in the United States. They are basically standard homes, each with approximately 10 residents and two certified nursing assistants. One registered nurse makes the rounds among 2 to 3 homes. 54% of Green House residents are on Medicaid.
Green Houses are just one part of a broader trend -- which began with a 1987 law designed to protect residents from abuse or neglect -- to de-institutionalize senior care. Nursing assistants in traditional nursing homes generally do specialized tasks, like workers on an assembly line. Life for residents is therefore usually rigidly scheduled. In Green Homes, assistants do all the work for less residents, so there is much more scheduling leeway and residents are able to form stronger bonds with their caretakers. The more lenient schedule also allows residents to be more independent.
A poll released by NPR in September showed that about 80% of retirees and near-retirees are uncomfortable with the idea of being confined in an uncomfortable institutionalized home. But the problem for building more Green Homes is that they require larger initial capital investments. Other than that, the costs are roughly similar. Benefits include fewer bedsores, longer time and deeper relationships with staff, and "higher satisfaction with the physical environment, privacy, their own autonomy, health care and meals." Employees also report less stress.
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