As a child, Lori Long naturally felt at home with her elders. “I love senior adults. They are amazing mentors, and I love to hear their history,” says Long. Long and her family built and operated Greenbrier Village, a facility offering five levels of care to senior adults for over fifty years. Long’s parents first invested their time, resources, and love. “It is hard to describe the respect and admiration I feel for all the older people I have known over the past 50 years,” says Long.

Since the 1980s, federal regulations have required long-term care facilities to follow a rigid medical model. However, 20 years ago, that model began to shift. A culture change took place, allowing a more “choice-based” model. Long knew Greenbrier needed to create a system based on choice, a system where residents feel at home. “So, we started learning just who our residents are,” notes Long. “What they want. When they like to get up. What they like to eat, or how they celebrate things like birthdays or holidays.”

Step by Step Training. The Welcome Home Project training materials will take any facility and walk you step by step through the process of implementing these and other concepts. This will happen through a series of training videos and a simple manual.

“We do not want to change an organization,” explains Long. “We want to come right in as that organization is and let them decide how we can do home with what they have. It is important to begin by watching the films, doing the learning circles, and then making your own decisions.”

Transformation. By implementing our training you will begin to see sure and steady transformation of your facility. Do not rush it. Work together. Everyone has a voice. Everyone deserves to be heard.