New "household" approach to residential care
Lancaster online had an interesting article on Goods Run, one of the Mennonite Home's new skilled "households." These homes were designed to create a more homelike and less institutional environment for residents.
The change has helped many residents become more social. Mennonite Home's conversion to households incorporates a person-centered approach. This approach is and should gain in popularity across the country. It's a key component of a $13 million physical renovation and "culture change" at the 105-year-old continuing-care community.
While the skilled-nursing area is being turned into nine households with up to 28 people each, the exterior of the brick building along Harrisburg Pike in Manheim Township is being transformed as well. Other recent improvements include an all-season room, a café serving Starbucks coffee, a library, a country store and a new elevator tower.
In total, the households will consist of 190 beds, six fewer skilled-nursing beds than Mennonite Home had before. Though Goods Run, which opened in March, has room for 28 residents, the rest of the households will accommodate 16 to 22 people.
Each household has a front door, which opens to reveal a living room with fireplace and flat-screen TV; a parlor; a dining room and residential-style kitchen; a washer and dryer; and even a spa with whirlpool. The traditional nurses station also has been eliminated, Sauder said, and replaced with charting and medication rooms tucked away from the main living area.
Resident rooms are configured and furnished differently, too, he said. Before, most skilled-nursing rooms were semiprivate, Sauder said. Now there are more private rooms, along with "modified" private rooms, where two people each have their own space (separated by a wall) but share a bath.
According to her Web site, culturechangenow.com, "Action Pact Inc. is a company of trainers, consultants and educators who assist nursing homes and other elder-care organizations in becoming resident-directed.
