Eden Alternative

model of Nursing Home Design, reminds me a bit of Alexander Patterns and Jane Jacobs

Framing "senior" as "Elder"

https://www.edenalt.org/ - Today, we are a global, 501c3 non-profit organization that impacts hundreds of thousands of people across 23 countries and transforms caring relationships throughout all care settings and services.

old links - does the nursing home still operate?

• http://www.edenalt.com/about.htm
• http://www.edenalt.com/mission.htm - Vision: To eliminate loneliness, helplessness, and boredom.
• principles http://www.edenalt.com/10.htm
• getting started http://www.edenalt.com/getting.htm

directory of homes

William Thomas (Bill Thomas): Life Worth Living ISBN:0964108968

• http://drbillthomas.com/
• as the book was written in 1995/6, I suppose it's OK Thomas doesn't talk much about pre-Nursing Home Senior Housing options (ALFs, CCRCs)
• Jan'2016 profile. He moved beyond nursing homes to set up small, intimate residences called Green Houses. With private bedrooms and bathrooms, they offered dignity and privacy. Their size had an unexpected effect. “Within six weeks, they had to send a truck around to pick up all the wheelchairs,” Thomas said of one house. “You know why most people [in nursing homes] use wheelchairs? Because the buildings are so damn big. . . . The buildings disable elders.”... The performance, part of his current tour, called “Age of Disruption,” is a combination of sociological analysis, memoir, myth and singalong.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvVSD0uq018

Some practices

• lots of pets - 80% of residents have parekeet in their room (typically cared for by staff)
• lots of kids - they run Day-Care, After School, Summer Camp on-site
• lots of plants - turn lawns into plant/flower/vegetable garden, use harvest in kitchen
• some level of Workplace Democracy

Part of the challenge seems to me that once you remove a group of people from any grounded Context, it's hard to add it back. Just like when Educating Kids.