Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-2540 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu

 

For Immediate Release

 

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor

Phone: (307) 766-3571

E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

 

Date: Sept. 28, 2006

Editor’s notes:

Wyoming residents, leaders buy into ‘Green House’ concept

            State residents and leaders with community housing developments, senior centers and nursing homes across Wyoming and the region flocked to the University of Wyoming today to learn more about a concept known as “Green House,” a small, community residence that feels more like home than an institution.

            The concept was created by one of the keynote speakers at the 2006 Consumer Issues Conference, William Thomas, M.D., from Sherburne, N.Y.

            Thomas is an international authority on geriatric medicine and eldercare, and he will be among six Americans to receive a Heinz Award next month in Pittsburgh. The award honors groundbreaking achievements in human endeavors.

            More than 130 people listened to Thomas during the one-day conference at UW.

            Among them was Carmen Rideout, executive director of the Sheridan Senior Center, which is proposing such a home in Sheridan with other groups in the community.

            “We believe it’s the right thing to do, and we’re trying to figure out how we can do it,” Rideout said.

            The Sheridan Senior Center in July received a $25,000 grant from the Wyoming Business Council to explore bringing the Green House model to Sheridan.

            “It’s a different type of nursing home concept. Instead of a large, institutional-type nursing facility, the Green House provides care in small, intimate settings,” Rideout said. The home planned in Sheridan would have rooms for 10 seniors.

            Certified nursing assistant (CNAs), which Thomas has referred to as “elder midwives,” would provide direct care to the seniors, Rideout said. Registered nurses, registered dieticians, physical therapists and other professionals would make regular visits.

            “A Green House is more focused on the individuals instead of the structure and routine of a nursing home,” Rideout said. “It’s more of a neighborhood.” For example, she noted, residents have a direct say in meals. “When they are being served food they like, they are going to eat that food and be healthier.”

            Asked to describe how Thomas came up with the name “Green House,” Rideout explained, “It’s a place where someone can live and grow.” This isn’t always the case for institutional nursing homes having hundreds of rooms, she added.

            Also attending was Candra Day of Jackson. She and about 30 residents and health professionals from that community are exploring the feasibility of a Green House.

            Day said she became interested in the concept when she saw what her father went through in a traditional nursing facility.

            “It was an unsatisfactory experience in almost every way. My father was upset with all of that, and his condition degraded rapidly,” Day said. “The Green House offers an alternative to the nursing home. For one thing, the caretaker’s role is redefined. The CNA helps design and guide the care, and that doesn’t happen in a nursing home.”

            Day added she believes a Green House would be more like home. “It would feel like a family instead of an institution.”

            There are no Green Houses in Wyoming, but they exist in several other states, including one in Mississippi that conference attendees discussed.

            The Consumer Issues Conference also examined home loan practices and housing issues. Allen Fishbein, director of housing and credit policy for the Consumer Federation of America, discussed how the explosion in mortgage products mixed with unscrupulous practices can make homeowners pay consequences for owning a piece of the American Dream.

            Among those taking note of his comments was Lindsey Stutheit, a UW senior from Perryton, Texas, majoring in family and consumer sciences in the College of Agriculture.

            “I haven’t purchased a home before and had no insight as to the problems that can occur,” Stutheit said. “It was good to hear about some of the traps and scams. For instance, some lenders match you with a loan you cannot pay if interest rates rise or if the loan goes from a fixed rate to a variable rate.”

                Sponsors of the conference, “Home on the Range,” included the UW Cooperative Extension Service, the dean’s offices of the colleges of law and agriculture, the UW Office of Academic Affairs, Associated Students of the University of Wyoming, First Interstate Bank, Albany County Tourism Board and AARP.

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