The Eden Alternative® is a powerful tool for improving the quality of life for people who live in long-term care facilities or are isolated in the community. It is a new way of thinking about eldercare and has the potential of remaking facilities and communities.
Mission:
To improve the well-being of Elders and their care partners by transforming the communities in which they live and work.
Vision:
To eliminate loneliness, helplessness, and boredom.
Values:
Innovation, Integrity, Community, Empowerment, and Passion
The Ten Principles of The Eden Alternative®:
Principle One: Loneliness, helplessness, and boredom are painful and destructive to our health and well-being.
Principle Two: A caring, inclusive and vibrant community enables all of us, regardless of age or ability, to experience well-being.
Principle Three: We thrive when we have easy access to the companionship we desire. This is the antidote to loneliness.
Principle Four: We thrive when we have purpose and the opportunity to give, as well as receive. This is the antidote to helplessness.
Principle Five: We thrive when we have variety, spontaneity, and unexpected happenings in our lives. This is the antidote to boredom.
Principle Six: Meaningless activity corrodes the human spirit. Meaning is unique to each of us and is essential to health and well-being.
Principle Seven: We are more than our medical diagnoses. Medical treatment should support and empower us to experience a life worth living.
Principle Eight: Decision-making must involve those most impacted by the decision. Empowerment activates choice, autonomy, and influence.
Principle Nine: Building a collaborative and resilient culture is a never-ending process. We need to keep learning, developing, and adapting.
Principle Ten: Wise leadership is the key to meaningful and lasting change. For it, there can be no substitute.
The Eden Alternative® Domains of Well-BeingTM
“Well-being is a much larger idea than either quality of life or customer satisfaction. It is based on a holistic understanding of human needs and capacities. Well-being is elusive, highly subjective, and the most valuable of all human possessions.”
– Dr. Bill Thomas, What Are Old People For
Well-being is the path to a life worth living. It is the ultimate outcome of a human life. Through a grant-funded collaborative effort, The Eden Alternative brought together a task force of culture change experts in 2004 and identified seven primary Domains of Well-Being. Together, they serve as a simple framework for asking thoughtful questions that help identify the unmet needs of those we care for:
- IDENTITY — being well-known; having personhood; individuality; having a history
- GROWTH — development; enrichment; expanding; evolving
- AUTONOMY — liberty; self-determination; choice; freedom
- SECURITY — freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; safety; privacy; dignity; respect
- CONNECTEDNESS — belonging; engaged; involved; connected to time, place, and nature
- MEANING — significance; heart; hope; value; purpose; sacredness
- JOY — happiness; pleasure; delight; contentment; enjoyment
Creating Home ~ The Eden Alternative®
This documentary style piece, produced by The Eden Alternative, Inc., features the reflections of Elders and their various care partners regarding the impact of this person-directed approach to care on their growth and well-being. (10m 22s)