COVID-19 devastated nursing homes — here are safer, more cost-effective options

And many advocates tout the Green House model, a small-homes approach in which 10 to 12 residents get their own private rooms and bathrooms with access to an open kitchen and common area. “It’s much, much more home-like,” Grant said. A June report showed that 95% of Green House facilities had stayed COVID-19-free between early February and late May, while cases and deaths among residents and staff were lower compared to national nursing-home data.

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  • “If we’re going to elevate the resident’s voice, we’ve got to include residents,” said Laci Cornelison, interim director of the Center on Aging at Kansas State University and coalition member, during her session at Pioneer Network and The Green House Project’s 2024 Conference on Wednesday. “We really wanted to take an approach where we’re looking at things through the lens of culture change and person-centered care. We focus mostly on quality of life rather than clinical needs.”

  • “At a time when hospitals continued to push more post-surgical patients straight to home care, Londonderry Village in Palmyra, PA, decided to invest in six Green House homes with 10 beds each. ‘We believed in that culture and that quality of care,’ said President and CEO Jeff Shireman. ‘People have great experiences in that environment.'”

  • From Senator Ed Markey to select board chair Art Smadbeck, a mix of high-level politicians and local figures broke ground in Edgartown on the 70-bed, $68 million Navigator Homes elderly housing project intended to replace the Windemere Nursing & Rehabilitation Center on the Vineyard. “This is going to be a place that really helps families, and that cares for their loved ones in a way that is almost family-like,” Markey said.

  • “A small but growing group of nursing homes are already implementing these changes. Collectively called ‘household models,’ these nursing homes have generated enthusiasm among diverse stakeholders and long-term care experts. Because of its scale and consistency across homes, the Green House approach has been the most frequently studied household model.”