Plants in nursing homes

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Summarised from an item by Mary Brophy Marcus, entitled Gardens of Eden, in US News & World Report (Feb 17th 97) monitored for the Institute by Roger Knights.

The Eden Alternative, used in more than 100 nursing homes in the States, integrates plants, animals and children so as to enrich the lives of the elderly residents. One old lady, formerly silent and depressed, was to be seen wandering down the corridor, chirping away to the songbird on her shoulder. Dogs, chicken and llamas can be full-time residents too.

One old lady, formerly silent and depressed, was to be seen wandering down the corridor, chirping away to the songbird on her shoulder

William Thomas, who pioneered the Eden Alternative, has found that nursing homes using this approach needed fewer medications for their residents and drug costs decreased by half.

For information on American nursing homes using innovative approaches of this type, contact the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform visit their website: www.nccnhr.org.

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