NURSING HOMES CAN BE SO SO DIFFERENT SPREAD THE WORD

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Pets, kids, gardens give nursing home new lease on life
By Mary Moorhead
Knight Ryder Newspaper

Are nursing homes destined to be understaffed medical institutions where the
sick and demented sit in wheel chairs, staring and waiting to die? Is change
possible? 
        Back in 1991, as administor of the New York's Chase Memorial nursing
Home, the Harvard educated Dr . William Thomas decided change was necessary.
Striving to eliminate " loneliness, boredom, and helplessness" and to
create an
ambience like the "outside world" Thomas secured a $200,00 state and federal
grant and initiated radical reforms.
        To the normal array of hospital beds, medications and shiny linoleum.
Thomas added "freely roaming dogs, four cats, 120 birds, flower and vegetable
gardens and children." Nursing home residents soon watered and fed their own
plants and cared for the pets and birds. A children's after-school program and
a day care program center became part of the daily life. There was even a
picnic area for visiting families.
        Thomas calls his revolution a "Human Habitat" and the ensuing program,
now spreading slowly throughout the country, is the Eden Alternative in his
book "Life Worth Living" (VanderWyk & Burnham $17.95) and his supporters have
developed a comprehensive program designed to help nursing homes understand
and
develop a "  Human Habitat.
        "The Ten Principals of the Eden Alternative" asks traditional nursing
home administrators and staff some unorthodox and challenging questions. What
companionship is provided to combat loneliness? What opportunities do
residents
have to give care? Are plants, animals and children the axis around which
daily
life turns?
How many residents share a dog or cat? Are residents given a opportunity to
help children grow?
        Equally provocative, the ten principals emphasize a novel approach to
staffing. Stress in staff education and interdisplinary team work, Eden
strives
"to de-emphasize the top down bureaucracy in facilities" and give maximum
decision-making authority to residents and those closest to them. The
principals ask : Are there planning teams consisting of residents, family
members, staff and community? re teams empowered to make decisions?
        And the Eden Golden Rule states  "As management does unto the
staff, so
shall staff do unto the residents"
        I can picture nursing home administrators really sweating about these
proposed staff changes  and the thought of 120 birds in a facility. You're
probably thinking, "That's impossible. How would you control all those
animals?
What about infection and allergies? What would the State Department of Health
Services inspection team do?"
        At Chase, infections and allergies actually decreased, as did
medication
usage for depression, anxiety and agitation. Furthermore, Debbie Cavallo,
Eden's enthusiastic head of Western Region 8, said both residents and staff do
well under the changes. In one facility, staff turnover was reduced from 106
percent to 12 percent. Also, studies of "Edenizing" facilities by the
Southwest
Texas State University Institute for Quality Improvements in Long term Health
Care have reported decreases in pressure sores , medication usage for  anxiety
and depression, and again staff absenteeism.
        Thomas's book describes how he won over the New York State
Department of
Health Services and the Regional Surveyors office, Surveyors were so impressed
with the Eden's results, they "overlooked" the 137 animals too many.
Additionally, the state of New York passed legislation that permits nursing
homes to pursue all aspects of the Eden Alternative.
        Perhaps, as Eden's mission statement says, it can be different. More
nursing homes should consider joining the growing coalition of homes that are
"habitats for human beings rather than institutions for the frail elderly"
        For information, call Debbie Cavallo at (619)-494-1661 or check out
the
Eden Alternative web site at www.edenalt.com. Or, contact The Eden Alternative
742 Turnpike Road, Sherburne, NY, 14360, (607) 674-5232.

Mary B. Moorhead is a licensed family therapist and elder-care specialist in
Berkeley
Article taken from Santa Barbara Newspress Monday August 2, 1999



        





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