Small-House Nursing Homes (Green House^®)

The Long-Term Care Resource Center is engaged in studying the evolution of small-house nursing homes.  These are self-contained buildings housing small numbers of residents and organized in a way intended to maximize normal living environments and routines, resident autonomy, sense of community, and quality of life.  One or more small-houses can be licensed as a nursing home or part of a licensed nursing home.   Green House^® is a trademarked version of a small-house nursing home, developed in concept by William Thomas, founder of the Eden Alternative. 

►  With a grant from the Commonwealth Fund, between 2003 to 2006, we evaluated the first 4-house Green House Project in Tupelo, MS over a 3-year period in a quasi-experimental design with two comparison groups.  When the sponsoring organization increased its Green Houses from 4 to 10, and reduced its traditional nursing home to 24 beds, we also conducted a smaller-scale study of the issues in sustaining and expanding the model on that campus.  Go to Tupelo Green House Study. 

►  With a grant from the National Alzheimer’s Association, we are studying how to best meet the needs of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease in Small House Nursing homes in a study being conducted at Otterbein Retirement Communities in Ohio. Click to see a description of the project.  

►  With a grant from the It’sLife Foundation, we are studying the evolution of small-house nursing homes in 3 large firms that operate multi-level retirement communities in, respectively, Michigan, Mississippi, and Ohio. Click to see a description of the project.