Opinion: Smaller is Better

Private rooms alone won’t remedy nursing home system’s shortcomings. “The Green House model is a lot more than just the building,” says Alex Spanko. “It’s about the culture, too.”

“The only question,” Cook said, “is whether they will take the harsh lessons of the pandemic to heart and implement empowering care models such as Green House — or choose to ignore the experiences of elders and decades of research and build the exact same types of traditional, outdated buildings that failed too many Canadians before, during and after COVID-19.”

“Analysts say the nursing-home model is outdated. Many nursing homes are 40 or 50 years old, looking much like hospitals: large, impersonal and with shared rooms. Research has shown that smaller nursing homes — like ones known as Green Houses — often provide better, more personal care.”

“It’s important that we leverage what we learned … this could be a game changer, it could really provide that level of support and incentives to really help us achieve what we all want,” Susan Ryan, CEO for the Center for Innovation, told SNN.