Opportunity
Problem
There is a lack of full-time assisted living facilities available that offer skilled and respectful care to residents. There aren’t enough short-term medically skilled care facilities in Connecticut for patients with disabilities.
Solution
Bright House hopes to be the home for 14 lucky full time assisted living residents. We offer medically-skilled, compassionate care in a self-sustaining community and skilled nursing for short-term residents. Bright House, which is situated on a 6 acre parcel (the former Wayfield Bed and Breakfast), in Middletown CT, brings together decades-old experience and creative, alternative visions of what our seniors can achieve in their latest years.
Market
The ageing of the Baby Boomers is an important and well-known fact. This group, which included many of those who created the counterculture of the 1970s and 60s, is increasingly unhappily amazed at the number of options they have as they get older. Fortunately, much like the American Association of Retired Persons (formerly known under the American Association of Retired Persons), elder-care alternatives based on the Eden Care model are being created.
Residents’/Patients’ Needs
Based on years of care for elderly patients, our experience shows that people who are looking for skilled nursing care or assisted living care have many similar needs.
- To be treated with respect and dignity
- To actively engage in a social group
- To be involved in his/her own treatment and living plan
- To be cared for by skilled, medically-knowledgeable clinicians and caregivers, working as a team
Our list of “needs”, as it is called, appears to be in an opposite order to most nursing homes. Unfortunately, the majority of our elderly who require care are treated according to the billing system’s needs and not their own.
Families’#8217 Needs
Similarly, the families of people seeking caring environments have their own set of needs they are seeking to fulfill:
- It gives them peace of mind about their loved one’s physical and mental health.
- They can get relief from the tedious job of caring for their loved ones.
- The guilt that often overwhelms them when they discover they lack the intellectual, physical or emotional resources to care for their loved ones properly.
The unstated and big problem for families who seek care is feeling like a bad son, daughter, or spouse. It is the feeling that she is unable, unwilling, or able, to sacrifice her life in order to take care of a dear family member. Bright House doesn’t want to discredit this feeling. Instead, we try to assure families that choosing to let us care for their loved ones is a caring, kind, and generous act.
Competiton
There are a number of different options for families seeking nursing home care, from in-hospital recovery centers, to for-profit chains, to specialized care for people with Alzheimer’s, AIDS, diabetes, and so on. The closest care facility to our model is the specialized care facility. These facilities offer personalized nursing care but are usually reserved for individuals with particular medical issues.
Why Us
Bright House promotes dignity, self-worth, and a high quality lifestyle for residents. To that end, we encourage resident group decision-making through the House Councils, access to all areas of their homes here at Bright House, and self-determination in activities, socialization, and food preferences. Bright House is more than a care facility. It is their home and their community.
