California ushered in a new era of nursing home care on May 29, with the opening of the state’s first certified Green House homes at Mt. San Antonio Gardens, a senior community in Southern California. The opening is expected to usher in a new wave of similar projects across California as legislation designed to encourage a small-home approach to skilled nursing home care takes effect. A total of 20 residents will live at the Evergreen Villas in two residential neighborhood homes, designed by Ewing Architects, Inc., AIA, of Pasadena, each with private rooms and bathrooms with showers. Unlike traditional nursing homes, Green House homes are specifically built from the ground up to be real homes—in every way. Residents socialize in cozy living rooms and enjoy meals cooked in open kitchens, by the same people that care for them each day.The Green House model’s unique approach to care, including a versatile staffing model, produces better clinical outcomes, such as fewer hospitalizations and falls, and less staff turnover. Research shows that the model’s small layout, combined with its intimate and innovative staffing ratios, provides elders with four times more personal and social contact than typical nursing homes.

Read Source (http://www.thegreenhouseproject.org)