A couple of years ago, HelloCare published an article about giving aged care residents the freedom to eat whenever they choose, rather than at set meal times.
The article, Should Aged Care Residents Be Allowed To Eat Whenever They Want?, attracted a flurry of responses saying the piece did not take into account practical realities, such as residents being of a generation that enjoys routine, the higher cost of residents eating at different times, and the health and safety risks of residents cooking food they have grown themselves.
We were grateful for the feedback and the discussion that ensued.
But one comment in particular attracted our attention. It was from Vincenzo Paolino, the founder and managing director of Almacasa, an aged care home in Switzerland that focuses on exceptional ‘quality of life’ for older people.
“We found solutions for every [one] of your arguments against normal life and activities,” he wrote. “Human beings are not meant to live in hospital-style institutions.”
“As a provider of long-term care in Switzerland, we have very successfully introduced small household-style places where even people with very high need of care live together in a ‘normal’ environment”, wrote Paolino.
Residents can continue to take part in daily activities, like cooking, as long as they wish to, he said.
“People with dementia and with physical conditions have the same human rights as we do. And they want to be as useful as possible, they want to have a reason to get up in the morning.”
We reached out to Paolino to find out more.
Paolino said Almacasa evolved from the founders’ interest in the Eden Alternative, which HelloCare has written about here.
Eden was founded by Dr Bill Thomas, who came across a problem he couldn’t solve while working in an aged care home. A patient was seeing Dr Thomas about a rash, but she also said she was lonely. Dr Thomas was able to prescribe a cream for the rash, but he didn’t have a remedy for the loneliness.
From this, Dr Thomas his wife, Jude Thomas, developed The Eden Alternative, which aims to tackle loneliness, helplessness and boredom in aged care homes.
Their philosophy is based on the foundational ideas that the antidote to loneliness is loving companionship, the antidote to helplessness is the giving and receiving of care, and the antidote to boredom is variety and spontaneity.
Paolino and his partner, Liliane Peverelli, were early followers of the “culture change” fuelled by the Eden Alternative.
Though not a certified Eden home, due to adaptations they have made to suit their Swiss location, they still use Eden’s 10 principles daily to reflect on their values.
The foundation of Almamaca’s care is in getting the residents to engage in everyday life.
If residents aren’t engaging in the everyday, “what comes next” after showing and getting dressed in the morning? “Waiting for lunch? Staring at the elevator door? That‘s not what we want,” Paolino told HelloCare.
“We very seldom have bedridden residents for long. Most of our residents stay active and part of the group as long as possible compared to conventional nursing homes,” Paolino said.
“The activities of daily life are there to watch and participate in if people want to: washing, cooking, cleaning.”
“We have no artificial ‘cooking therapy’ sessions. We just have to cook, because otherwise there would be no food on the table,” he said.
With the resident’s permission, family members are encouraged to join in to daily activities.
Residents are also enabled to remain engaged as much as possible with the local community, with visits both to and from the home.
While residents are encouraged to take part in daily activities, they are not obliged to.
“I remember one of our residents, a 92-year-old woman with serious health conditions including cancer in a late stage, who was very proud to iron every day and not only to do the work but also to instruct our young students on how to do it right.
“She felt needed and she had a purpose in her life. She passed away having lived until the very end.”
At Almacasa, around 20% of staff are registered nurses, around 30% are skilled nurses who have undertaken a three-year apprenticeship, and 50% are certified nursing assistants.
“The heart of Almacasa is in everyday life and also in skilled nursing available for palliative care and other complex situations. We have all grades of dependency,” Paolino explained.
The home has been extremely successful in Switzerland. “We have long waiting lists,” Paolino observed.
Almacasa has its own Facebook page that celebrates not only what is happening inside the home, but also stories of ageing from all around the world.
Photos of Sophie Loren, still beautiful at 85, and Iris Apfel, a creative beacon at 99, provide positive role models for ageing.
Paolino has also reached an agreement with the city of Zurich to open an LGBTI+ home for senior residents in 2023.
It will consist of 25 affordable housing apartments and three living communities for residents with high-care needs, in the style of Almacasa.
Paolino has a word of warning for us all about how we care for the older members of our communities.
“We have to fight against loneliness, helplessness and boredom in our facilities for old people.
“We have to reform them into places to live.
“Because that might be our future,” he cautioned.
The 10 Eden Principles are:
This is an excellent article which should be circulated to all nursing home providers!
Thank you. You just gave me some hope that things could actually improve for Elders. The more our Elders know about options like this, the less likely they are to end their life when an aged care admission is the only remaining option
The Eden principles are so simple yet so meaningful.
Isn’t it frustrating that bureaucracy gets in the way.
I’d support the idea that training for all Ministers of Aged Care should include a week’s stay.