AARP: Green House Caregiving is Forward-thinking
- Feb 25, 2022
- 1 min read
In January 2022, AARP's Public Policy Institute called The Green House Project's universal caregiver model an example of forward-thinking elder care, as well as a potential solution to the staffing shortages facing nursing homes today.
In a Green House (a model that Vernon Homes is actively pursuing now), the teams providing the care are self-directed and empowered. They are freer to provide true, at-home care. The result is more like a family setting than traditional nursing homes.
The AARP report describes the many benefits of this universal caregiver model, (called “shahbazim” by The Green House Project). Green House staff “live with” a small group of residents as they carry out certified nursing assistant (CNA) duties, cook meals and perform light housekeeping. The reported results:
Significantly lower workforce turnover
Deeper relationships between elders and caregivers, leading to greater emotional support and improved care, as shahbazim enables caregivers to better detect changes in a resident’s condition before they escalate
Better infection control through consistent staffing and substantially reduced need for temporary agency workers
AARP called on nursing homes to embrace the Green House staffing model: “Given the current workforce crisis, it is time to rethink traditional staffing models. Lessons learned from the Green House model can guide new thinking."
Our own Wanda Scully, Vernon Green Director of Nursing, said, “I have been reviewing the Green House care model since Vernon Homes first started planning to build a Green House community. It is exactly what is needed, and returns caregiving to what is best -- namely, there’s no place like home.”
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