55+ senior retirement communities

[frugal-one]

If my dear wife required long-term care beyond my ability to provide/obtain it for her in our house, I would try to place her in a Green House (with the shahbazim working for the wellbeing of a small group of residents) similar to Mirasol in Loveland CO or Jamie's Place in Winthrop WA.

If the shoe were on the other foot, I hope my DW would place me in a Green House.

Atul Gawande wrote about Green Houses approvingly in his book, Being Mortal

It is important to know the needs and wants of the elder person(s). Discussions with them may be revealing!

Thanks for posting this. I put this on my “to read” list!

[dado potato]

There is a directory of Green Houses in operation and in development around the USA at the following website: http://thegreenhouseproject.org

The Green House model has been adopted by both non-profit (faith-based) organizations and for-profit Skilled Nursing Facilities. The cost (private pay) may be slightly higher at Green Houses than institutional SNFs.

Before I could decide on a placement, it would be essential to take a tour and visit a few times. I would want to observe
shahbazim as they interact with elders,
skilled nursing resources,
food service,
housekeeping,
etc.

Are elders able to gather around a fireplace?
How friendly are the companion animals?
How aesthetically pleasing are the furnishings and interiors?
Can bird feeders/water-features be seen out the windows?
How dark is the night sky?

[happystuff]

I've lived in a mobile home before and actually enjoyed it, but it was on a private lot. I wouldn't mind doing the same again and actually am "mentioning" the idea to dh every now and then. LOL. I had a friend who lived in a mobile home park that actually looked like lots of tiny houses in a nice little community... lawns, trees, etc. Very nice.

[dado potato]

Dr Bill Thomas, founder of the Green House Project and its Director of Innovation gave a talk in 2016, "Keep Memory Alive". The Youtube video is about 50 minutes long. Thomas is critical of American old-age institutions, which he considers medically centered and overly controlling.

Listening to this talk may increase insight into the Green House model ... "Where it is coming from."
Title: Keep Memory Alive - Dr Bill Thomas - 2016 Age of Disruption Tour


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntc5dTifKzk

[jp1]

That reminds me of a podcast I listened to some years ago. They were interviewing a doctor whose first job out of med school was medical director at a senior living facility. He got there and started aggressively treating people's ailments and after a few months was taken aside by someone on the board who explained that that wasn't really his purpose there. This didn't dissuade him so the next thing he did was convince the board to let him buy several dozen birds (parakeets, if I remember correctly) and cages that they would then give to any resident that wanted one. The birds and cages got delivered and since the cages had to be assembled first he had all of it delivered to the room off the lobby which got used as a hair salon once a week. Then he and his head nurse started putting cages together amid the chaos of all these birds flying around the room. Their was a window to the lobby and soon there were a crowd of residents watching the show and acting more animated than they ever had. It was the first interesting and unexpected thing to happen to any of them since they had moved to the facility.