Challenge
The Cottages of Lake St. Louis sought to embrace the Green House model of care to provide a community atmosphere for its residents. Deepening the relationships and encouraging more engagement time between staff and residents was a key goal of the project.
Solution
Each cottage is designed as a home and includes a front porch and foyer to receive guests, a common dining table to accommodate all residents and staff together for a meal, a living room and a den. The large open kitchen has a breakfast bar and encourages residents to be active and engaged with staff. The common rooms provide space for visitors to engage with the elders and share meals. A patio and garden are shared between two cottages to provide outdoor space. Each resident has a private room and bathroom. There is a small nursing office; however, the goal of the facility is to maximize the caregiver time with each resident, so caregivers are in the cottage with residents throughout the day. Each building has a spa with a therapy tub, salon and physical therapy area. The spa, physical therapy area and every resident room and bathroom have ceiling mounted resident lifts to aid in maintaining mobility and resident dignity.
The community consists of six homes with 10 residents each and is a licensed skilled nursing facility. The facility is also the first Green House model in the state of Missouri.
