Elder care facilities in Alaska: new models, new buildings, new aging population.

• Author: Freeman, Louise
• Position: HEALTHCARE

With Alaska's position as the state with the fastest-growing population of people age sixty-five and older in the nation, the care and housing of seniors is a pressing need now and will continue to be in the foreseeable future. According to a US Department of Health and Human Services, the growth nationwide in the number of people age sixty years and older will continue to be strong for the next fifteen years. After 2030, the growth of this segment of the population will slow, but that is when the oldest boomers will begin to reach age eighty-five, a time when they are at increased risk of having dementia and their need for services is likely to become more intensive. Nursing homes throughout Alaska are stepping up to address this need for the care and housing of the elderly, now and in the years to come.

The Eden Alternative, the Green House Project, the Gentlecare System, Native Alaskan-centered care--no matter what name it goes by, a movement is afoot to de-institutionalize long-term care in the state of Alaska. Used in settings as old as the Alaska Pioneer Homes, established at Sitka in 1913, to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Elders Home (YKEH) in Bethel, which opened in 2013, the emphasis in all these programs is on patient-centered care with the goal of increasing the quality of life for the elderly. In the past, seniors needing assisted living or more intensive care often ended up in nursing homes, giving up their independence for life in an impersonal, sometimes poorly staffed institution. All too often, the feeling of "home" in these nursing homes was sadly missing. Residents fall prey to the dangers of institutionalization: boredom, social isolation, and lack of purpose. Newer institutions, such as YKEH and Providence Seward Mountain Haven (PSMH), and retooled programs at older homes put their focus on keeping the residents active and engaged.

Seward

"Our thought is not that they are coming here to die, but to live out the rest of their days with a good quality of life," says Becky Lawson, assistant administrator of PSMH. The Providence facility, which opened in 2009, was built from the ground up with the needs of the residents in mind. The first Green House project in the state, PSMH was designed as four separate lodges, each housing ten residents. The lodges are made as homelike as possible, with private rooms opening off of a central living area, where "elders" (as they are called, as a sign of respect) can lounge in easy chairs by the...