The Eden Alternative is a non-profit organization established by William H. Thomas, a geriatrician, and his wife Judy, to disseminate their theories regarding aging. The premise of the Eden Alternative is that most long-term housing ignores residents' key problems of loneliness, helplessness and boredom, focusing on seniors' physical needs without adequately addressing their psychological needs and thus creating a track where seniors' implicit focus is downhill, towards death.
The Eden Alternative advocates a cultural change in senior housing, promoting a community focus and hearth-like approach through what it calls Green Houses, designed as private rooms for six to ten seniors, centered around an open kitchen and dining area. The Green House is intended to look and feel like a home, containing few medical signposts. The goal is to provide a place where elders can receive clinical care and daily support without the assistance and care becoming the focus of their existence.
Although the concept is interesting, the Eden Alternative's website is dense and not reader-friendly. This article on the National Real Estate Investor website may provide an easier introduction to the organization.
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