A green house dining room (copied with permission)
As the experiences of Ontario’s long term care homes where an innovative model of care has been implemented can attest, designing for living is a significant factor to consider when changing long-term care homes from ‘institutions to homes’.
Environment has shown time and time again with qualitative studies that it is so important to the quality of life of seniors living in long-term care homes. Among the environmental aspects to be considered are ‘real’ kitchens, small households, and access to the outdoors.
Many long-term care homes in Ontario are leading the way – e.g. Glebe Centre, Temiskaming Lodge, Malton Village, and the list goes on.
Please advocate for the implementation of innovative models of care, of which ‘designing for the living’, plays an important role.
What do you mean by suites including “real” kitchens? My partner is in a LTC home in Toronto, and although quite lovely, he does not like the food (he’s a foodie), and would love some opportunities to cook himself.
Thanks for your inquiry. Many innovative models of care which include smaller dining rooms (for 12 to 16 residents or less) are slowing being introduced in the LTC homes. In these homes, residents’ food preferences are taken into consideration rather than having residents’ meals ‘imported’ from the home’s main kitchen where volume and assembly-line meals don’t have as much capacity to respond to individual preferences. Also, often these small dining rooms provide the opportunity for the residents to contribute to meal preparation.
You may be able to obtain more information by contacting AdvantAge Ontario and/or the OLTCA (Ontario Long Term Care Association).