Park Place of St. John Small House Highlight

Nursing homes can often feel clinical or boring, and that may negatively impact the mindset of their residents. Park Place of St. John is looking to change all of that with their “Small House” model of care. In providing skilled nursing in a Small House designed to feel just like home, they are leading the charge in a healthcare revolution.

Park Place’s “Small Houses”, named Hope and Faith, are designed like a regular home. 10 private bedrooms (each with a private bathroom) surround a community room and open kitchen. The hallways are designed to be wide and short, giving residents room to maneuver and navigate without extra assistance.

“In our Small Houses, everything is developed around the heart of the home,” said Nancy Van Drunen, Executive Director at Park Place of St. John. “Traditional Nursing homes are built on a hospital model, with long corridors and double loaded rooms. That lends itself to good care in the hospital, but it doesn’t feel like a home. Instead, we strive to have our residents feel like family.”

The whole philosophy of the Small House is built around feeling just like an average home. Meals are prepared or finished on site, allowing residents to smell the home cooking or even to participate in it. And the in the Hope and Faith houses, independence is key. Residents are free to sleep, eat, and live on their own terms. There is no strict schedule, and they can involve themselves around the house however they like.

“Long-term care has been challenged to do things ‘person-centered’,” said Van Drunen. “People are trying very hard to do those things, but we have an opportunity to really accomplish it with these purpose-built buildings.

The buildings are structured so that residents can be safe and well-cared for, but independent as well. The staff of the Small Houses are a lot more than standard nurses or caregivers, they care for residents on a person-to-person basis. The goal is to meet the motto of “nothing about me without me,” with the idea that every decision made about a resident’s care is made with input from the resident themselves.

Both the Hope and Faith houses are located a step away from high quality physical therapy services. For Park Place of St. John, the most important thing about therapeutic care is meeting the needs of the patient. Experienced staff, like Occupational Therapist and Program Manager Heather Adams, see to it that their service is uniquely tailored to get each patient back on their feet as quickly and comfortably as possible.

“I have really never worked at a facility that is so patient-centered,” said Adams. “Everybody says that, but I’ve never seen it embodied more than in the work I do here. We truly do devote more one-on-one time and one-on-one interaction to meet an individual’s preferences.”

The Park Place of St. John is proud to be part of a wave of care that studies show leads to: higher quality-of-life, better emotional well-being, fewer falls, increased mobility, and more. To learn more about Park Place, including their Small House settings, please visit www.providencelifeservices.com/communities/parkplacestjohn.