Household
Model

Traditional departments are eliminated to integrate disciplines with the self-led household team structure. In retirement communities the system-wide departments (facilities and grounds, dining services, marketing and sales) often change their nomenclature from “departments” to “services,” further strengthening the philosophy resident-directed community and resource-bearing leadership.Leadership is spread throughout the organization. Frontline staff, residents, family members, managers and executives share leadership responsibilities and are all empowered to make life-impacting decisions as a team.

Reshaping the physical environment into neighborhoods or households with their own living room and dining room, and -- in households -- a kitchen. Homey spaces and furnishings must be a part of any renovation.

In their book, In Pursuit of the Sunbeam, LaVrene Norton and Steve Shields give us “The Essential Elements of the Household Model,” illustrating the depth and nuance of thinking that goes into making the model a success:

1. The household is each resident’s home and sanctuary.
2. The people who live here direct their own lives, individually and collectively.
3. The boundaries of the person and his/her home are clear and respected as a matter of course.
4. Grace, a shared sense of what is sacred about the household and its people, is deeply valued, consciously created and preserved. Ritual, spontaneity, friendship, spirituality, celebration, recreation, choice, interdependence, art, and humor are all manifestations of a culture of grace.
5. The people who live here are loved and served by a responsive, highly valued, decentralized, self-led service team that has responsibility, authority, and accountability.
6. Leadership is a characteristic, not a position. Leaders support and are supported by values-driven, resource-bearing principles and practices as a way for each person to actualize his or her full potential.
7. All systems, including treatments, exist to support and serve the person within the context of his or her life pursuits.
8. We build strong community with one another, our family, neighbors, and town. Each household is part of a neighborhood of households, dedicated to continuous learning.
9. The physical building and all its amenities are designed to be a true home. Institutional creep in design and culture is treated as a wolf at the door.
10. The establishment of a healthy and sustainable home comes through the integrated balance of resident-driven life, leadership, organizational structure, physical environment and financial sustainability.