The Greenhouse Project – A Residential Model for Aged Care

For over 10 years The Greenhouse Project has been developing an alternative to the traditional American nursing home as an effort to ‘de-institutionalise’ and invigorate the long-term care environment by providing specially-designed homes in which seniors can live with dignity, comfort and companionship.

The project focuses on homes that can provide high levels of care for individuals who do not wish to be in an aged care setting.  Instead of a traditional group home, a Green House Project community consists of clusters of smaller homes with six to ten residents.

Seniors have their own room and ensuite and are free from scheduling and able to access social and shared areas of the house at any time, making it truly feel like home.  Private areas open up to central dining, kitchen and living facilities with flexible seating and other arrangements based on individual preferences

The designs encourage social activity and utilise the latest in smart technology to extend individual freedoms.

Last year Australian Unity trialled and implemented the “Better Together at My Place” initiative which combined research from local focus groups, The Greenhouse Project and other international models such as the Eden Alternative with the aim to give individual residents choice in terms of all service elements.

Dedicated staff, in the newly designed roles of Care Partner and Care Companions, undertake personal care and support, basic cooking, cleaning, and participate in general lifestyle activities with the residents in the household.  Clinical staff ‘visit’ the household, and attend to each resident in a district nurse house call model.

This model has been put into practice at Australian Unity’s new facility Rathdowne Place in Carlton Melbourne with 162 beds over 5 levels including a memory support unit, day respite centre, seniors gym, hydrotherapy pool and a cafe.

Each level acts as a “home” and has a kitchen, living room and outdoor areas. There are 32 beds in each home, which is more than the ideal of 17. Care staff are dedicated to a maximum of 6 residents. Residents have only 4 carers throughout each week and clinicians now have the time to focus on clinical issues, not admin tasks.

Visit The Greenhouse Project and the Rathdowne Place websites for more information.