Describe the Green House model. How is it different from traditional nursing-home care?

What will be an ideal response?

In a radically changed U.S. nursing-home concept called THE GREEN HOUSE® model, a large, outdated nursing home in Mississippi was replaced by ten small, self-contained houses. Each is limited to ten or fewer residents, who live in private bedroom–bathroom suites that surround a family-style communal space. Besides providing personal care, a stable staff of nursing assistants fosters seniors' control and independence. Residents determine their own daily schedules and are invited to join in both recreational and household activities, including planning and preparing meals, cleaning, gardening, and caring for pets. A professional support team—including licensed nurses, therapists, social workers, physicians, and pharmacists—visits regularly to serve residents' health needs. In a comparison of Green House residents with traditional nursing home residents, Green House older adults reported substantially better quality of life, and they also showed less decline over time in ability to carry out activities of daily living. The Green House model—and other models like it—is blurring distinctions among nursing home, assisted living, and "independent" living. By making the home a central, organizing principle, the Green House approach includes all the aging-in-place and effective person–environment fit features that ensure late-life well-being: physical and emotional comfort, enjoyable daily pursuits enabling residents to maximize use of their capacities, and meaningful social relationships.