A Little Bit of Sunshine Later in Life
Reprint from NORDIC REACH | WINTER 2002
Sometimes it takes a non-Scandinavian to see what Scandinavia truly has to offer and bring it to life America.
When Italian-American Joseph Carella became director of the Swedish Home in Newton, Mass., about 10 years ago, he came to an operation that first opened its doors in 1917. But little had happened during the ensuing years. Carella, a devoted and committed advocate of the rights of elderly to live full and meaningful lives in a home rather than an institution, set out to create a Scandinavian utopia. In 2001, The Scandinavian Living Center opened its doors to residents and the combined communities of the Nordic people in the Boston area.
Carella, who holds a bachelor's degree in health information management from Northeastern University and an MBA from Babson College, is that rare thing: an individual who combines a solid professional background and the competence to cause change, with a genuine affection for older people. Or all people.
Armed with research from the U.S. and information gathered from many study trips to Scandinavia, Carella set out to create a Scandinavian living center, stressing Scandinavian as well as living. His dream was to create a center for everyone - a place for young and old to meet, as well as a home for older people where they could truly be able to be part of a much larger community.
Let's all hope that the nursing home industry is listening to some of Carella's ideas, for he has succeeded. From the outset, he wanted to create a home atmosphere for all residents, with more living and common space per apartment that other similar assisted living facilities in the region. Not only that, he also wanted the fees to be lower than those of comparable facilities. In fact, the Scandinavian Living Center highest rate is actually lower than the state's average.
As we visit the Center one year after the inauguration of its new annex, it has become the center of all kinds of activities in the area, from film and music clubs, to monthly gatherings of Sons of Norway, the Finlandia Foundation and SWEA. The new annex is the result of the 1999 merger of the Swedish Charitable Society of Greater Boston and the Norwegian Old People's Home and Charitable Association. The architecture of the annex, located next to the old Victorian mansion that was the old Swedish Home, is appropriately Scandinavian in style and color. The Center's cafe, the Scandinavian Library and information center and the Nordic hall - a large, accessible multimedia auditorium that caters to a variety of groups - constitute a proper setting for the variety of activities going on here.
During our visit, we met with Swedes and Norwegians, Finns and, this being Boston, the Italians and Irish representing the staff. The warmth, the openness, the absence of pretense, the overall atmosphere here is one of a kind.
Much of the success must be attributed to the ideas and dreams of Carella, the dedicated hard work of Program Director Fran Dragon (Irish-English) and all of the staff. But the projects would not have been possible without the contributions and cooperation of everyone involved in the local Scandinavian communities as well. No words of appreciation can do justice to the overall atmosphere of the center, and the wonderful people that work, volunteer, visit or live there.
Joseph Carella's ideas on care for the elderly are available in book, "Unlimited Options for Aging: Commonsense answers from Scandinavia," published by Hollis Publishing, 95 Runnels Bridge Road, Hollis, NH, 03049, (603) 889-4500. It should not only be required reading for everyone involved in nursing homes in the U.S., or Scandinavia for that matter, including residents, but for everyone who wishes to live independently and with dignity later in life. Does that exclude anyone?
The Center is definitely worth learning about as a prototype for both ideal living conditions for the elderly as well as Common sense for successful joint-Scandinavian projects.
ULF MÅRTENSSON
