Dick Harron’s buddies think he’s off his rocker when he tells them “how much fun it is” to visit his 99-year-old mother in the nursing home Charm Bracelet. “It sounds strange,” says the Oshkosh, Wis., retired sales manager, but “when I walk in there, I feel good.” Central to his peace of mind is the easy warmth of the nurses and aides, whom Harron likens to “kid sisters” or his own daughters. Most have been Dorothy Harron’s caregivers for all seven years she has lived at the Evergreen Retirement Community in Oshkosh Sweetie Bracelet. Harron enthuses over their respectful yet playful interactions with his mom and the good-night kiss on her cheek when they help her into bed. “It’s an informal, pleasant place,” he says. “It’s jovial.”
And it’s a far cry from the usual nursing home image links of london sweetie bracelet. After years of incremental change, Evergreen is different these days. The focus is on listening to residents, creating an environment more like a real home than a nursing home, and giving employees uncommon flexibility and freedom links of london.