Posted: Jun 7, 2010 8:25 AM
Updated: Jun 7, 2010 10:22 AM
(Clockwise starting from top right) Lucille Bustamento, Ann Vasko, Daniyell Stringer, and Esther Russo play cards at one of The Glen's Village Health Care households. (Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times)
Cleda Harrington is benefiting from new thinking that's shaping nursing homes and other senior living centers.
Harrington, 82, is among residents at The Glen Retirement System who gather most afternoons to play cards in one of the center's new household-style nursing home wings. She's paralyzed from the chest down but rolls from her room to the common area in a motorized wheelchair. Residents play Wii (bowling is a favorite), catch up on soaps or play a few hands of card games in a large living area flanked by a breakfast bar and dining room.
Most set their own schedule. They can eat when they want and pretty much what they want. Their wing features architectural detailing similar to a South Highlands bungalow and spacious rooms. There's not a medicine or meal cart in sight.
"I love it," said Billy Averett, who moved to the center from Logansport after her doctor told her she should not live alone anymore. Her room includes a walk-in closet, a bathroom and homey touches like afghans and framed family photos.
A movement to make nursing homes less institutional and intimidating started about a decade ago when nursing home professionals started asking how they could improve older people's quality of life and offer more choice, KaraLe Causey said.
Causey is president of Louisiana Enhancing Aging with Dignity through Empowerment and Respect (LEADER), a nonprofit organization that promotes culture change in Louisiana. She and her husband own a nursing home in Columbia.
"As the baby boomers kind of moved forward toward the aging end of the spectrum, people sat back and thought a little more about it," Causey said. "Many nursing homes are run for the convenience of the staff and their organization. Culture change tries to bring that back to what the resident wants."
The Glen started renovating its 126-bed nursing home area in 2008 and divided the beds among five households, each with a separate entrance. The goal was to create an atmosphere that would make staff members and residents feel like a family. Glen administrators also wanted to encourage residents' relatives to spend time at the center.
"The households even have porches and patios," said Michelle Roberts, marketing director.
The Glen's long-term care wings are among living options the continuing care retirement community offers. Continuing care centers typically provide independent living arrangements like apartments or small houses, assisted living cottages and skilled nursing or long-term care health centers. Residents move from one area to another as their needs change.
There are about 1,800 such centers in the United States. The number of continuing care communities grew from 800 to 1,200 between 1990 and 1997 and has continued increasing in the past decade as the number of elderly people increased. By 2050, an estimated 80 million people in the United States will be 65 or older.
About a quarter-mile from The Glen, Willis-Knighton Health System's continuing care center is wooing younger retirees for the rest of their lives with new independent and assisted living options at the former Live Oak Retirement Center.
Crews are wrapping up construction of The Tower at The Oaks, a $30 million, multi-story independent living apartment complex that resembles a resort with the amenities of a cruise ship. Residents will be able to work out, swim, eat at several restaurants or stop by a bar for drinks. The complex will offer wi-fi.
"This is not a place for people to come in and sit down and moss over," said Nila Willhoite, a Willis-Knighton system vice president.
Construction crews will break ground on a 26-unit assisted living building where The Oaks residents can move when they need help dressing, eating and taking medicine. The health system also is maintaining the existing Live Oak independent and assisted living units, as well as the center's nursing home area.
The health system is marketing the new apartments as an alternative to home ownership, complete with a balance sheet where prospective residents can weigh their monthly expenses versus the all-inclusive monthly rent.
Through mid-May, the center had "serious commitments" for about 20 percent of the apartments, and a wing closest to the main dining room was full. More than 90 percent of the commitments are from new residents and not people moving from existing Live Oak apartments, said Marian Dehan, independent living director.
"We're talking about having private villas, but that's in the planning stages," Dehan said.