Eden Program

Exactly what is the Eden Program? I've never heard of it. Could you explain it for me please?

We have had the Eden Program at our facility for a few months now. It's wonderful, the patients really enjoy having the animals around and so does the staff. My co-workers and I thought it would be terrible, a lot of messy animals, but to our surprise it isn't. We have a 30 gallon aquarium, a dog, 3 cats, 2 bird aviaries with finches, and small bird cages with parakeets, and love birds. The plants and animals make it seem more like a home environment. The patients are able to pet the dog and cats, and the therapy dept. also takes the parakeets out the cages and the patients let them perch on their finger.Our facility has gone one step further and provided a daycare for the staff members. The children are brought into the facility by the activity dept. twice a week to visit with the patients. We are the first facility the this state to institute the Eden Program, and we had our doubts, but it has proven to be a wonderful thing. The smiles on the patients face, says it all.

The Eden Alternative Program was actually started by the Dr. of the couple. There is a book that he did you can order. Don't recall the name anymore. I lent mine to someone and have never gotten it back. But if you can get it through the website I would recommend it, you will see that although it is difficult in the beginning, just like it is difficult with any change, the program does much to improve not any the residents lives, but the overall work environment. The book is easy reading, you can do it in a matter of hours if you have time to sit down and read it that way. I bought it in the hope that I could convince the corporate that I worked for at the time to try it. I was a no go. If I had a chance to put the concept into practice somewhere I might be willing to try LTC again. Try it, you may find that it is everything it should be. The program is actually very extensive and few facilities put the entire thing into practice, for those that do however they have remarkable results. Good Luck.

Hi; the Eden Program was instituted in our local Long Term Care facility where my Mom is a resident. There is 'Molly' the dog, two cockatiels and a large fish aquarium. The patients enjoy these 'little distractions' and so do the visitors. I personally think it's a great program.

Thank you all who replied to this.

Well, we already have people who bring animals in and yes, the residents love them. They also make messes and my concern is, what if a resident slips and fall.....sure they can do that on just about anything tho. Also, having a dog or cat running around and a resident trips over it. We have a bird and fish tank on every floor. On my floor we have some residents who torment the bird...poor Spike is going to have a heartattack. It would be alright if family members came in and helped with the animals, but it sounds like it's going to be just the staff. With the shortage we have, nobody wants to come in on their time off. Is this the right time to start this program?

We are in the process of becoming an eden facility. i have been working there since June. We have four cats, many birds, a rabbit,fish, and a large black dog named lucky. Lucky has been there since September.

We have not had a resident fall because of the animals. We don't have messes from them either. They are all housse trained. Our facility is 76 beds. june 1st we will start our day care center. Since last Augusst we have not used agency help. When we hire our next nurse we will actually have to many but will find a way to use them all. I have CNA's begging for hours becausse we do not have enough. I pray this will continue. I think a lot of it is because of the eden alternative which is more than just animals and children. It is an excellent way to treat our residents and staff. i love where I work.