Staff: Unlike the workforce at traditional nursing homes, the Green House staffing structure is flat. A small group of universal workers licensed as certified nursing assistants, the shahbazim, work in just one cottage and engage closely with ten to twelve residents.The Green House model is quoted as being "a uniquely human form of housing and care for vulnerable elders that provide better quality of life while reducing hospital admissions, Medicare spending, and staff turnover" by researchers in an article by Rob Waters in Health Affairs this March.
Since COVID-19 swept across the globe it has been unique properties like the Green House Model that have resulted in far less COVID-19 infections in the elderly. The more than 3200 seniors residents living in Green House facilities are far less likely to die as a result than residents of traditional nursing homes. With this is mind policy makers are taking a deeper dive into ways they can transform what the nursing home industry looks like and why traditional facilities have failed to protect the vulnerable elderly residents who live in them.