John Cleese takes us on a tour of a laughter therapy practice in India.
Laughter promotes stress reduction, community bonding, stronger immune system... and joy. What a simple solution!
Staffing is also different. Each project is based on 24/7 care, but the duties have shifted from highly specialized care to more family-like care provided by a core team, and supplemented with appropriate medical teams from outside.
Clinical Support Team
The clinical support team is comprised of a Medical Director, Director of Nursing, nurses, therapists, social workers, dietician, and activities coordinator to provide skilled care for the residents as required in the care plan. The Shahbazim are certified nursing assistants with additional Green House training) by developing close relationships with the elders, provide the Clinical Support Team with valuable information to assist in developing the care plan.
Licensed nurses are available to and responsible for clinical care in Green House homes on a 24-hour basis. If the nurse is not in the home and is needed, is available to the Shahbazim and elders via pager and other communication technologies. The Shahbaz
The Shahbaz (plural: Shahbazim) is a universal worker who provides personal care, meal planning and preparation, light housekeeping, and laundry for 7-10 elders. Shahbazim core training as Certified Nursing Assistants receive about 120 additional hours of specialized training to cover The Green House philosophy of care, person-directed care for persons with demenia, household operations, building self-managed work teams, policies and procedures for their project, communication skills, culinary training, safe food handling, and certification in first aid and CPR.
The Guide
The Green House Guide serves as coach and supervisor the the Shahbazim, and is responsible for the overall operations and quality of services in the home. The Guide may be responsible for more than one home, depending on the size of the community.
The Sage
The Green House Sage is a resident elder who acts as a coach or mentor, assists facilitating the development and continued growth of the self-managed work team and to serve as a trusted advisor to the Shahbazim. This is a volunteer position.
Extended Nursing Care Residents
Residents in the Green House are encouraged to participate
in shared home activities such as cooking, self care and cleaning, as
well as hobby activities and participation in the surrounding
community.
Family
Family participation is encouraged and welcomed in The Green House home, from sharing meals to participating in activities and volunteering time and services to help their loved one decorate personal space. Well-behaved family pets are also welcome visitors!
Only projects accepted through the application process and developed in cooperation with The Green House Project team are authorized to provide long-term care services under the licenses service mark: THE GREEN HOUSE®.
A five year pilot project ending in 2010 is reaching its goal of 50 projects across the country. Check the website for locations in your region. These nursing care facilities are often developed by nonprofit groups, churches and even municipalities.
"A Cooperative Solution," by the NAHC legislative committee
Established
in 1960, NAHC and its 10 regional associations provide education,
inspiration and service to housing cooperatives with well over a
million families. NAHC's Board of Directors at its September 2008
meeting unanimously supported a cooperative approach to affordable
housing ownership and preservation of individually owned houses faced
with foreclosures.
.
National Association of Housing Cooperatives
1614 King St.,
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 549-5201
The leading housing and community development advocate for the
provision of adequate and affordable housing and strong, viable
communities for all Americans particularly those for low - and
moderate- incomes.
NAHC Resources section offers library of cooperative housing information
Our FAQ section offers answers from our experts, the Glossary of Terms page contains definitions for commonly used cooperative terms, and our Resources for Professionals
section contains a number of useful sources. These are just a few of
the gems of information available from our continually expanding
Resources section.
Documents to help with cooperative management:
Cooperatives: A Housing Alternative for Rural America
Service Report 45. 32 pgs. 1995. Tracey Kennedy, Andrew Jermolowicz, Mary Ann Lambert, John Reilly and Beverly Rotan
USDA Rural Development
Keys to Successful Cooperative Housing
Service Report 44. 12 pgs. 1995. Tracey Kennedy, Andrew Jermolowicz, Mary Ann Lambert, John Reilly, and Beverly Rotan
USDA Rural Development
RESOURCE LIST:
http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/
Co-op Net -- Co-opNet, is an electronic mailing list run by the Southampton Co-op Network to promote co-ops and co-operation, and to encourage constructive and diverse discussion on co-operative and related issues.
Cooperative-bus -- An e-mail discussion group for cooperative managers, volunteers and members worldwide. Sponsored by the UW Center for Cooperatives. If your subscription efforts fail please email mgrinnell@wisc.edu with your name and email address where you want your mail sent along with instructions to add you to the coop bus listserv manually.
If your cooperative or condominium would like to take advantage of this free training, visit www.CENYC.org.
RECYCLING ELECTRONICS
1) Upper West Side Recycling also accepts and recycles batteries and
E-waste and runs periodic collections at fixed locations. For further
information, contact Jeff Twine at 212 865-9595.
2) Per Scholas is New York City's only electronics processing facility.
It has been reconditioning and recycling E-Waste since 1999. In
addition to making low-cost computers available to children and adults
who cannot afford a new computer, Per Scholas also trains local youth
for full-time jobs as computer technicians. For more information call
Per Scholas: (718) 772-0651.
CLOTHING AND TEXTILE RECYCLING
Upper West Side Recycling focuses on collection and recycling of materials that are not picked
up by the NYC Department of Sanitation.
They help buildings recycle clothing and other textiles. They help buildings organize and publicize an in-house textile drive, and will furnish a portable 4 x 21/2 foot clothing bin so that building residents don't have to haul these goods to a collection site, or worse, dump them in the trash.
Recyclable textiles include clean clothing (wearable or unwearable, shoes, pocketbooks, curtains, sheets, blankets, comforters, and towels. By participating you can help resident do their spring cleaning, keep textiles out of our landfills and recycle in an easy, convenient way.
http://www.cnyc.coop/CSI apartment buildings are a part of a coast-to-coast housing
network, founded in 1945.
Voting co-op members participate in management decisions. CSI believes that quality housing is best achieved by the people who live there.
Cooperatives are based on principles going back to England in the 1800s. All consumer cooperatives follow these basic principles:
Every floor has an elected floor representative who is a member of the building council and does the following:
The council meets monthly to decide on many aspects of building operations from what color to paint the lounge walls to ordering new refrigerators and hallway carpeting.
Residents meet monthly at general meetings in the community room. During these meetings:
By-laws and house rules build the framework for governing our co-op, and they provide for democratic and more secure communities within the buildings.
Committees run on volunteer power. Some committees meet "as needed;" others meeting monthly. CSI Support & Development' staff provides thorough training for all committees. Some committees and their responsibilities are:
Every building has a CSI staff liaison or coordinator who is the building's link between building business and the CSI Support & Development Services' office. They work with the council, committees and individuals to create the best possible living environment for all members.
Residents of each building elect delegates to regional cooperative congresses, where they nominate candidates for the CSI Board of Directors. Congress delegates and the board review corporate issues at three meetings each year. Congress is the link between co-op members and the board.
The board of directors meets monthly. It sets policy, approves annual building budgets and major building contracts.
CSI Senior Cooperative Housing Locations
Randallstown III Non-Profit Housing Corporation
CSI
Support and Development has been awarded funding to build a brand new,
HUD Section 202 subsidized independent living housing for seniors! This
new project, currently titled "Randallstown III" is slated to be built
on property acquired from the Mount Olive United Methodist Church in
western Baltimore County and will be the third phase built on this site
right on the Liberty Road corridor!
This
three-story 51 unit project will feature largely one bedroom apartments
as well as some units designed for the mobility impaired. Some of the
amenities will include a library, sundry shop, floor lounges, a
community room and an onsite laundry facility.
The
location is very convenient to transportation, medical services of all
kinds, food and other shopping, churches, senior centers and services,
educational facilities, community centers, and all of the other
requirements of daily living.
Interested parties may call 1-800-362-0548, Monday thru Friday, between 9
AM and 2 PM Eastern Standard Time, to put their name on the interested
party list.
Everyone is welcome to attend the first interested party
meeting to be held on September 29, 2009, at the existing Randallstown
Pavilion Co-op located at 5109 Old Court Road, Randallstown, MD 21133, which is adjacent to the site of the new Randallstown III Co-op.
The new building is scheduled to open in 2011.