None of us can honestly predict what life will be like for us when we retire. While many spend their golden years doing whatever they always wanted to but never could, some aren’t so lucky.
The body grows weak and the risk of physical as well as mental illness increases significantly as the years go by. The time that many of us are prematurely planning to be spent finally writing that book or finally getting that hobby workshop set up may be cut short by things like Alzheimer’s or Dementia.
A nursing home in Ohio that takes care of many elderly people that are suffering from memory problems decided to rethink the traditional nursing home formula.
An assisted living facility in Ohio decided to break with tradition when it comes to nursing homes
Image credits: Lantern
Lantern, an assisted living facility in Ohio and a number of other locations around the US, revamped their indoor spaces to look like authentic neighborhoods. The facility features living units that look like houses, equipped with porches and everything. There’s carpeting that looks like grass, ceiling lighting that mimics a partly-cloudy sky, and other decorative elements like street lights and garden-like flora.
Besides the looks, the nursing home also strives to mimic the feel of the place by setting up ambient sound and smell. So, whenever the inhabitants leave their units, they are greeted by friendly bird chirping and the smells of the outside. This way, all of their senses are stimulated to feel as if they never left their homes to live in a nursing facility.
Image credits: Lantern
Its “neighborhood” design aims to provide a healthy environment to the elderly with memory problems
Image credits: Lantern
Jean Makesh, the CEO of Lantern, is the man behind this idea. He explained that the environment is key in dealing with memory illness and other typical mental problems of the elderly years. Alzheimer’s patients, for example, experience a great amount of confusion in elderly homes, so creating a more familiar setting helps to alleviate their struggles.
Hence, instead of getting a room, residents get a “house” in a little quiet street that is reminiscent of the place they grew up in. Instead of a dull ceiling and floor, they get “sunny skies” and “green grass”. Instead of the sound of the AC and the typical indoor smells, they experience bird melodies and flower fragrance.
Image credits: Lantern
The setup features houses with porches, grass carpets, lit sky with clouds, and even specific smells and sounds
Image credits: Lantern
There is even a Main Street area for the residents to spend their downtime between personal and facility-organized activities like family fun nights, cooking lessons, weekly shopping trips, and jive class.
Alzheimer’s, among many other illnesses, currently does not have a cure, though there are ways of slowing it down or even stopping it. Makesh’s ingenious idea serves as proof that if the environment is strategically redesigned and the process is made rehabilitative (as opposed to just managing a disease), where patients actually relearn and practice life skills, then it makes pushing away illness that much more possible.
Image credits: Lantern
There is even a “Main Street” where residents can have some downtime between activities
Image credits: Lantern
How would you like to spend your elderly years? Let us know in the comments section below!
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