From Deseret News archives:
Culture change initiative 'empowers'
Plan gives nursing home patients more options, official says
That change "is going to be what we baby boomers want," says Burcombe, deputy director of the UHCA, looking ahead to the day when her generation requires full-time care. "I'm going to want say-so over my life," including the choice of what and when to eat.
One of the nursing homes that has embraced this change is Hillside Rehabilitation Center in Salt Lake City, which on Thursday invited staff members from other nursing homes to learn about its "5-meal-a-day" program.
According to Warren Walker, Hillside's administrator, six months after the facility adopted the more flexible eating plan more menu choices, breakfast from 7 to 9:30 a.m., three meals and two snacks a day the use of antidepressants among the residents dropped 35 percent. The blood-sugar levels of diabetics stabilized, he says, and complaints about the food have gone from three or four a week to one or two a year.
Call lights have been replaced by porch lights. The dining room is decorated with a nice wood hutch and table cloths. There is now a separate kitchen where residents can help make cookies or can grab a yogurt in the middle of the night. Soon, Hillside will launch a short-order-cook system, where residents can choose lunch from a menu. The nurses' stations will be replaced by small desks, making the staff more accessible.
Hillside is planning art exhibits in its hallways, and "neighborhoods" in each wing, says Gary Kelso, president of Mission Health Services of Huntsville, which runs Hillside. Some new nursing homes around the country are even going to a "household" model, with pods that include a dozen or so bedrooms and a separate kitchen.
Nursing homes are still filled with frail, disabled people, some of them unable to do much more than stare at a TV. The facilities "are never going to be the place we'd want to wake up in if we were healthy and independent," acknowledges Burcombe. But they can be places where we can feel "at home and in charge of ourselves," she says. "We want it to be a place you don't dread," whether it's to live in or visit.
"I want the public to know that our state's nursing homes aren't what they were five years ago, even three years ago," she says.
E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com
Comments
- Lakers booed at home in loss 12:53 a.m.
- Big games keep UHSAA coffers full 12:51 a.m.
- TCU stuck at fourth in BCS 12:50 a.m.
- Students from abroad come to Utah 12:26 a.m.
- Sports on the air 12:18 a.m.
- Sports briefs 12:17 a.m.
- Editorial: Red flags at Fort Hood 12:14 a.m.
- Rid Capitol Hill of 'roaches' 12:14 a.m.
- Health proposal not 'reform' 12:14 a.m.
- Afterthoughts 12:14 a.m.
- BYU happy to escape with victory
230 - TCU creams U.
225 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
206 - Will state consider gay rights law?
149 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
131 - RSL heads to MLS title game
125 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - Celtics crush Jazz
104 - TCU stays 4th in AP; Y. 19th, U. 23rd
97 - 3A: Hurricane advances to title game
88
Sears is holding a special VIP night Sunday, Nov. 15, in stores and online.
How do you handle kids and contests? Our oldest daughter, 7, is of the...
No, students are NOT safe from predators. If a parent wants to make sure...
If you really think Mormon's are mainstream, you must not have paid attention...
I don't see the schools presidents voting to get rid of WYM or NM, even...
why people complain about how football is covered by the media too much. when...
A little perspective is not a bad thing. Notice the Cougar's won loss record...
I actually was encouraged by some aspects of the game. Any Utah fan who has...
A story about Mormons as minorities? In this paper? Get over the "victim"...
she was an awesome woman someone i looked up to when i was younger she was...
Wow you just made one of the dumbest comments I've heard yet. Fire Bronco????...
Re: Huh?, You like many other haters are probably oblivious to many obvious...


You can be the first to comment on this story.