wfn.org | United Methodists create 'gardens of Eden' in retirement homes

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 1, 1999  News media contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71BP{442}

NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

By Woody Woodrick*

RAYMOND, Miss. (UMNS) - Imagine spending the latter stages of life in a
place filled with plants of all varieties that you tend yourself. 

Imagine, in addition to the plants, being surrounded by children and pets.

Does that sound like, say, the Garden of Eden? 

The dream is likely to become a reality over the next few years, as
Tupelo-based United Methodist Senior Services of Mississippi Inc. implements
the Eden Alternative in its facilities.

Senior Services operates independent and assisted-living centers around the
state. The Eden Alternative is a philosophy of elder care that seeks to
create habitats for humans rather than institutions for the frail and
elderly.

Senior Services President Steve McAlilly heard a speech about a year ago by
Eden Alternative founder Dr. William H. Thomas, also a United Methodist, and
became intrigued. Following further investigation and with approval of his
board of directors, McAlilly is putting the plan into effect in all Senior
Services facilities. Although at least one Mississippi facility has
experimented with Eden, Senior Services would be the first to adopt the
concept fully and on a large scale.

"It's receiving about every response you can get," McAlilly said of the
Senior Services staff. "They know it's something we want to do.

"We have some facilities going full speed ahead, and some are being more
cautious. We're letting them move at the speed they are able to."

McAlilly, a member of First United Methodist Church in Tupelo, said Trinity
Place in Columbus is moving most quickly toward implementation.

To help staff better understand the concept, McAlilly brought Thomas to
Raymond Aug. 24 to discuss the philosophy and implementation. In addition,
McAlilly invited representatives of the state Department of Health and
others involved in elder care in Mississippi. 

"It's in my heart to not only bring this plan to Senior Services, but that
anyone in Mississippi be able to live in an Eden facility if they want to,"
McAlilly said.

Thomas used dramatic stories and anecdotes to explain the Eden Alternative
to more than 200 people in two meetings at Eagle Ridge Conference Center in
Raymond.

"As humans get older, their world gets smaller," said Thomas, who developed
the initiative in 1991. "When their world gets very, very small, they move
to a nursing home. That's their new world. We've got to be world makers.
What kind of world do we want to make?"

The Eden Alternative seeks to eliminate what Thomas calls the three plagues
of long-term care institutions: loneliness, helplessness and boredom. The
idea is that as residents take care of plants and animals and spend time
around children, they will find that life's variety and spontaneity remain
and grow, and they can succeed where pills and therapy fail.

Under the Eden Alternative, long-term care facilities would have dogs and
cats free to roam the facility, residents would help tend plants, and many
would have pet birds in their rooms. In addition, close and frequent contact
with children would be promoted by having day care centers, day camps and
after-school activities at the facility.

Thomas, a member of Parkside United Methodist Church in Hamilton, N.Y.,
pointed out two key elements of the Eden plan. First, staffers are given
more responsibility and trust by management. That creates a better, more
caring working environment. 

Second, he emphasized that "Edenization" is a continuing process. As
facility managers develop the program they find what works in their
facilities and what doesn't, based on what residents want. He said the ideas
he promotes in 1999 are different and have grown from those of 1997.

Thomas said some 150 nursing homes nationwide have adopted the Eden
Alternative, resulting in a 26 percent reduction in nursing home employee
turnover, 15 percent lower mortality rates, reduced use of medication and
changed lives. 

"Eden is about the creation of a life worth living," he said.

Thomas estimates the Eden Alternative could save the federal government more
than $1.25 billion per year in health expenses.

Vanessa Phipps of the Department of Health Facilities said she's followed
the development of the Eden Alternative for several years and believes in
the concepts.
"I have an 83-year-old mother and she has her dog with her," Phipps said.
"I've been a proponent of the Eden Alternative. I certainly endorse it and
hope facilities will go to it if the staff buys in. It's a very positive
program."

While some elements of Eden are unconventional, Thomas and Phipps said every
aspect of the program falls within health regulations. "No regulation in
Mississippi or any other state would prevent (using the Eden Alternative),"
Thomas said.

# # #

*Woodrick is editor of the Mississippi United Methodist Advocate, the
newspaper of the Mississippi Annual (regional) Conference.

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