A Destination, Not a Regret: Nursing Homes as Community Hubs

oe Carella has a bold prescription for the future of eldercare, starting with reimagining nursing homes as hubs for entire communities.

Instead of looking for ways to iterate on the institutional nursing home, such as through assisted and independent living, Carella challenges the sector to imagine a future where people actually want to move into a nursing home level of care because that’s where the action is – friends, family, and the wider community gathering in places where people receive care instead of avoiding the setting altogether.

It's a model that Carella pioneered at the Scandinavian Living Center, a Massachusetts community that’s technically licensed as assisted living but is so interwoven with the town of Newton that people don’t immediately realize they’re enjoying ice cream or attending a cultural performance within an eldercare setting.

In this episode, hear Carella discuss his unique path to eldercare and his vision for how nursing homes can be destinations, and not places where people regret moving.

Learn more about the Scandinavian Living Center: https://www.slcenter.org/

Explore cultural transformation services from The Green House Project and Pioneer Network: https://thegreenhouseproject.org/cultural-transformation/