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adults provide a diversity of challenges as we strive to keep them safe without becoming so over-protective we deprive their lives of purpose and meaning.
Because nursing homes are now based on a medical model, most regulations address standards of care that are clinical in nature. Regulations do not inhibit the Household Model, although interpretations in some states can make it more difficult than in others.
The Fire Code is the greatest regulatory challenge to the Household Model. Its single focus is fire safety, as it must be. The problem is that local, state and federal fire marshal offices don’t always use the same code. The local office may use one issued in a particular year, the state another year, and the federal yet another. While approval for your plans may be granted, brace yourself for the first fire inspector “walk through” after the building is complete.
It can be as if plan approvals never took place and the price tag can be startling. Annual inspections may bring up new issues with long-standing situations never before identified as problems. Fire Marshal inspections are one of the regulatory system’s most expensive for providers. Another fire code reality is that nobody outside its bureaucracy seems to know how to interact with, influence or penetrate it. So, it is a reality we must live with. Having an architect familiar with the code will save you much heartache. Stories of woe over fire codes frequently involve architectural issues that a knowledgeable architect can help you avoid.
MOVE IN
Planning Move-In
Don’t underestimate the need to plan and prepare for the physical move into your new households. Once you’ve developed design drawings clearly identifying all rooms and spaces for furniture, start planning the upcoming move. Time frames and schedules for moving must be determined so clinicians and others can plan ahead to assure resident safety and wellbeing.
You may want to create an ad hoc transition team responsible for high involvement planning of the logistics and variables necessary to ensure a smooth move into the households. You need to bring all your project management skills to bear with this team. A project checklist, frequent stand-up meetings, high involvement across the organization and lots of communication are very important.
ENVIRONMENTAL
The Debate Begins Alignment of Vision Engage Partners in Design Move In
Home
Environmental Transformation 191
“You may want to create an ad hoc transition team responsible for high involvement planning
of the logistics and variables necessary to ensure a smooth move into the households.”