Dr Bill Thomas, a geriatrician in upstate New York identified “loneliness, helplessness and boredom” as the biggest causes of suffering in American nursing homes in the mid-nineties. He felt so strongly about his belief that the institutional model of care was making people sicker, that together with his wife, Judith Meyers-Thomas, he founded the Eden Alternative, a person-centred model of care.
Since then, the Eden Alternative has become an international not-for-profit organisation putting choice, dignity, respect, self-determination and purposeful living at the centre of care for older people.
The Sacred Heart Hospital Care Home in Roscommon is the first Irish nursing home which has taken on the Eden Alternative. Mary Butler, the assistant director of nursing says that it all started when she and the director of nursing, Julie Silke-Daly realized the “medical model of care with its emphasis on medication and interventions didn’t give space to the residents’ feelings, rich personalities and need to be integrated with their families and communities.”
“We wanted to move away from the image of 10 to 12 older people slumped in chairs in a sitting room to one where we engaged with the older people in our care,” explains Butler.
The Eden Alternative offered the staff at Sacred Heart Hospital Care Home a step by step approach towards cultural change and the Roscommon HSE managed care centre was acknowledged for its efforts when it won the Taoiseach Public Service Excellence award last year.
Changes happened in many practical ways. The large garden around the hospital was landscaped to incorporate small enclosed sheltered areas, a polytunnel, potted plants and a run for hens. The staff themselves began to explore areas of personal interest with the residents. So, for instance, one staff member set up an art corner, another brought in her tin whistle and another donated a piano so that visitors or residents could play spontaneously.
“We encourage residents to do their own thing,”says Butler. “We have also trained staff to engage with residents with more complex needs. For example, we give hand massage with music in the background to patients with advanced Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Butler is confident that the change in the hospital through the principles of the Eden Alternative has led to its success. “Getting as many colleagues thinking in the same way about care is what works best.”
To find out more about the Eden Alternative contact Ashoka Ireland on 01-8814037 or visit edenalt.org
SYLVIA THOMPSON
