On Wednesday, the Senate Aging Committee held a hearing entitled, “Person Centered Care: Reforming Services and Bringing Older Citizens Back to the Heart of Society.”

The hearing, which was chaired by Sen. Robert Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.), featured testimony from AAHSA members Dr. Bill Thomas, founder of the Eden Alternative and the Green House model, and Edna Hess, a shabaz at the Green House at Lebanon Valley Brethren Home in Palmyra, Pa. The panelists provided excellent information on the importance of focusing on the older adult when designing models to help care for them as their needs change.

The majority of the discussion focused on the “medical” or “health care” homes concept, which AAHSA is exploring as a way to provide better coordination of care, lower the number of hospital stays, and better the overall health of older adults.

The main idea of the Green House movement is to replace large nursing homes with smaller, homelike facilities for 10 to 12 patients.

Hess described her experience moving from a traditional nursing home setting to Lebanon’s Green House project, the Hostetter House, a 7000 sq-ft free-standing ranch-style home that utilizes wireless communications technologies, as well as life-enhancing features such as spa/physical therapy rooms.

Edna Hess offers testimony.

“One of the great things about our Green House homes is the consistency of staffing,” Hess said. “I always work in the Hostetter House, and so the elders feel very secure and comfortable because they know me and I know them.” Hess also noted that the families of the patients in the Hostetter House seem happier because they are better able to participate in the activities of the house.

Dr. Thomas discussed the idea of patient-centeredness, a philosophy of care that encourages the patient to be at heart of the decision-making process.

Bill Thomas speaks at Senate hearing.

“‘Person-centered’ care is an authentic grassroots movement that has the power to unite patients and providers in a shared effort to experience how we interact with the health care system,” Thomas said. He recommended that the federal government integrate “person-centeredness into the reimbursement system,” as well as encourage the development of “new models, work roles and funding strategies” of long-term health care.

Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) also attended the hearing.

The Webcast of the hearing is available here.