Insights

The Porter Hills Green House® homes will be celebrating their 5 year anniversary of opening in 2014! It’s hard to believe that this revolutionary approach to skilled nursing is only being offered in the Grand Rapids area by Porter Hills.  I have had the privilege of working in the homes since we welcomed the first elders on September 23, 2009 and the experience has transformed me!  The staff have opened their minds and hearts to this new way of thinking, learning, and caregiving.

We have a number of special events planned to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. With monies we received in memory of an elder who lived here, we were able to schedule Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA Dementia Care & Training Specialist to provide training to our staff. Teepa is a highly regarded and popular speaker and in order to offer this unique opportunity, we had to make plans almost 2 years in advance!  Teepa will be offering training not only to the staff who work in the homes but also to other invited caregivers and family members.

For more information about Teepa Snow, visit TeepaSnow.com

What is a Shahbaz?

This is one of the questions I get asked all the time. The heart of our Green House® homes are the Shahbaz (plural:  Shahbazim).  The Shahbazim are certified nursing assistants who receive additional training in CPR, first aid, culinary skills, safe food handling, household operations, and the Green House curriculum.  The Shahbazim provide care to the elders living here and perform housekeeping, laundry, and cooking.  Their primary role is to protect, sustain, and nurture the elders by providing assistance with activities of daily living and meeting other needs as required. They are part of a self-managed work team and are responsible for managing many aspects of their work (e.g. self-scheduling, ordering, rhythms of the day, etc.).

They are an amazing group of people!

“When we care for an elder, we care for that part of

ourselves that will someday grow old.”

Dr. Nader Shabahangi

For more information about The Green House Project, visit www.thegreenhouseproject.org