By Robert Nieminen | Images courtesy of JSR Associates, Inc.
Full Interiors + Sources Article
A few excerpts written by Robert Nieminen for Interiors + Sources. For the full article see link above.
“Rohde has a soft spot for the underdog and those who don’t have a voice. Whether it’s a vulnerable population, the elderly, family members or children, "That is really what drives the ‘heart part’ of my business," she says.
For her, the state of the continuing care retirement community and at-risk youth are of particular concern. Because the fact is a majority of the population can’t afford the kind of care they’ll need after retirement and many children who exit foster care have nowhere to go and often lack marketable skills.
Rohde suggests a wholesale reinvention of the existing long-term care and social service paradigm is needed to shift the focus back to where it belongs: on people.
As such, Rohde and company developed a concept called the Live Together Community. The premise behind the plan is to create an intergenerational model of life that would be co-located on an existing Children’s Home campus serving at-risk youth, evaluation of urban settings and opportunities to colocate youth and elders, and on existing senior living campuses that want to embrace the community at-large. All provide an opportunity for young residents to become part of a "teaching and research" community focused on older adults receiving quality care and services.
Because, as Rohde sees it, most skilled nursing settings in this country aren’t person-centered; rather, they’re staff-driven, efficiency driven and regulatory driven. Live Together proposes to turn that approach on its head.
"It’s a combination of looking at workforce development, at-risk youth as a vulnerable population and seniors, and seeing how they can interact together to create a revenue stream that would be [realized] through teaching and research. It allows a provider who wants to do culture change come and learn about it and see it in action," she explains. "You could have frontline staff come and be trained. You could have designers and architects come and learn how to do functional programs."