News, Events & Updates
From The Green House Project
IN THIS ISSUE:

  • GHP Senior Director Recognized as Leader in Senior Living Who Inspires Others
  • Urban Institute Roundtable Examines LTC Reforms with Lessons from the Pandemic
  • Otterbein SeniorLife Joins Green House Network
  • Green House In the News
  • Elevate Eldercare Podcast Recognizes 19 Women of Senior Living
  • New Webinar Series on Green House Design Begins April 6
  • Social Connection Webinar Series Now Available for Viewing
  • Save the Date for the Green House Dementia Symposium

Green House Senior Director Recognized as Leader Who Inspires Others in Senior Living
GHP Senior Director Susan Ryan was selected from among dozens of women as one of this year's Women of Distinction by McKnight's Long-Term Care News and McKnight's Senior Living.

The publications will host a Women of Distinction Virtual Awards Celebration and Forum on May 18 and 19, where colleagues and supporters will have the opportunity to celebrate their achievements, hear the stories behind their professional successes, and get their takes on the issues that are most relevant to women leaders working in long-term care today.
Urban Institute Roundtable Examines LTSS Reforms in Wake of Pandemic
GHP Senior Director Susan Ryan participated in a roundtable hosted by the Urban Institute last October that examined possible reforms to aging services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the event, participants highlighted several key areas for reform and identified potential improvements in the system.

Among the suggestions were many related to long-term services and supports (LTSS). According to the proceedings of the roundtable, released recently, "most agreed that many older adults with LTSS needs could remain at home for a longer period with enhanced [home- and community-based services]. For those who require facility-based care, alternatives include expanding Green House and similar small-home models that are designed for 8 to 10 residents and use creative new staffing designs. Early evidence suggests that these models had far fewer COVID-19 cases and fatalities than other facilities (Zimmerman et al. 2021)."

New Green House Home to Open Soon in Mississippi
More Green House homes are planned for Mississippi by the organization that built the first Green House home in Tupelo.

Methodist Senior Services will soon open its 20th Green House home, known as the Dan and Margaret Maddox Green House Home, in Hernando, Miss., to serve individuals living with dementia.

Otterbein SeniorLife Joins Green House Network
Otterbein SeniorLife and its 47 small house skilled nursing and rehab homes have recently joined the GHP family by becoming become designated as Green House homes.

Established in 1912, Lebanon, Ohio-based Otterbein is a nonprofit organization that offers independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, rehab, memory support, respite care, home health care, and hospice services among its 20 locations throughout Ohio, and in Franklin, Ind.

Now trademarked as Green House homes, the Otterbein neighborhoods bring to 359 the number of homes that have built according to GHP standards since 2003, across 32 states.

“Otterbein’s strategic goal is to lead the nation in liberating elders, and those who serve them, from the mindset of institutional care,” said Jill Wilson, Otterbein SeniorLife CEO/president. "With 14 years of small house experience under our belt and as the nation’s largest provider of small house care, we remain committed to that goal. We look forward to further advancing the goal in partnership with the team at The Green House Project by sharing best practices, extending research, and expanding together our like-minded views on innovation and liberation when it comes to the future of senior care.”

For more details about Otterbein's journey to becoming Green House homes, see the Skilled Nursing News article in our media coverage section below.
Green House in the News
Following is a collection of recent news media coverage about the Green House model.
WTOP Radio
"I absolutely think [Green House homes] should be looked at very seriously as a model (for long-term care) both in terms of the satisfaction and the quality of life they have and the degree of protection they offer to folks from infectious disease," said Rob Waters of Health Affairs.


McKnight's Long-Term Care News
"Differences were most notable among the outliers, wrote lead author Sheryl Zimmerman, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Only one-quarter of Green House/small nursing homes had COVID-19 case rates per 100 resident years higher than 2.92, but the corresponding rates for traditional nursing homes ranged from 5.48 and 27, she and her colleagues found."


Skilled Nursing News
"To move forward, besides private rooms and private bathrooms, we need to get to smaller buildings along the lines of the Green House Project, or something that is more individually based — so also the staff then becomes more personally tied, because they’re not taking care of 50 residents."


Women Daily Magazine
"The Green House model involves setting up small houses to house 6-12 residents. The focus is on providing home care as well as treatment through a consistent, well trained team which takes care of all the work. The team may include some nurses besides staff which is trained to cook, assist the patients in their daily activities and engaging them in social activities. The nursing and the clinical care team takes care of medical needs of the patients via use of home nursing products and other medical supplies."


WBFO NPR
"'Through July, the Green House Project reported its homes had just 32.5 positive cases per 1,000 residents, almost five times fewer than the national average for nursing homes. COVID deaths were also low; Green House homes saw just under three deaths per 1,000 residents, about 14 times fewer than the national average. Everything that I know about good infection control, I believe was inherently built within this model,' said Green House Project Senior Director Susan Ryan."


Annals of Long-Term Care
"Newer models of NH care, such as the Green House model and the Eden Alternative, place increased emphasis on providing person-centered care, encouraging independence in residents, and emphasize principles of enablement. Thus, the provision of independent access to the outdoors within modern NHs is increasingly acknowledged as important in maximizing resident quality of life (QoL) and function."
How Otterbein Built a Green House Nursing Home Network

Like many senior living and care executives, Jill Wilson's first reaction to the "small home" model of nursing homes was a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. The year was 2004, and Wilson was the chief financial officer of Otterbein SeniorLife, ...

Read more
skillednursingnews.com
Green House homes called 'promising model' for nursing...

The Green House Project, a national network of small nursing homes, has received plenty of attention for its low rates of COVID-19 during the pandemic. A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study recently called it a "promising model" for ...

Read more
news.wbfo.org
Elevate Eldercare Recognizes Women's History Month
In celebration of Women’s History Month, Elevate Eldercare will release tomorrow (Mar. 31) an episode that highlights the women leaders of senior living who have appeared as guests on the podcast.
 
GHP Senior Director Susan Ryan and her colleagues, Education Project Manager Mary Hopfner-Thomas and Director of Resource Development Marla DeVries, sat down together to reflect on the 19 incredible women leaders who have been Elevate Eldercare since its launch last July.
 
“A year into the pandemic, we are thrilled to take a look back at these courageous women who stepped up and took action, allowing their passion and quest for social justice to mobilize solutions and teams amid undoubtedly the most horrific experience in our history,” said Ryan. “Their stories are unique, yet eerily similar in that each voice became a guiding and stabilizing force that provided solid leadership within their sphere of influence during profound uncertainty and fear."
Green House Design Series Begins April 6
Perkins Eastman architects, along with team members from Green House adopter organizations, will leverage their own experiences to examine and explore the design principles of the Green House model during a series of three webinar events.

The series explores how physical design supports the Green House Core Values, what works well, and how it has worked during COVID-19.

Panelists will share their experiences, insights, and knowledge related to the model and as it relates to their very own Green House homes. The first webinar launches on April 6 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

Social Connectedness Webinar Series Now
Available for Viewing
This six-part webinar series addresses the lack of social connectedness that has adversely affected elders living in nursing homes and other settings since the onset of the pandemic. Created in partnership with IN2L, it examines and explores the options available to providers for creating and ensuring social connectedness among elders.

The Green House Project