World Magazine recently interviewed MPS architect, Stuart Barber, Associate Principal, and our Director of Senior Living, about the industry’s re-evaluation of long-term elder care. “Every provider wants to prove that they are doing what they need to do to prevent something like this from happening again,” said Barber, an architect who designs nursing homes out of our Charleston, SC office.
In the article, Barber advocates for the “household model,” redesigning institutions into pods serving 20 to 30 residents instead of 100. Facilities would have fewer hallways and more front doors, and communal spaces within the pods. Nursing staff would be concentrated in the 20-person pods rather than serving an entire facility, so dedicated staff for a “household” would feel more like family members.
“The worst part of the last year for those residents was a complete lack of meaningful interaction with anybody,” one nursing home director told Barber. You can read all of Barber’s interview in World’s digital edition of “Home improvements” here.
