Eben Ezer
Eden Alternative Campus

A growing number of long-term care providers, like the communities within the Eben Ezer umbrella, have established more homelike environments for neighbors by implementing a relationship-centered approach to care that better addresses neighbor’s needs and quality of life. The Eden Alternative is a philosophy of care to improve the quality of life for our neighbors. At Eben Ezer, we are dedicated to empower our team, the neighbors, and their family members to create their person-directed environments and to help eliminate the plagues of loneliness, helplessness, and boredom.
We are dedicated to helping our neighbors become as independent as possible and to grow in their environment. The core concept of the Eden Alternative is seeing the environments as habitats for human beings to grow, rather than facilities for the frail and elderly. The Eden philosophy supports person-directed care, focusing on what we can do, not on what we can’t do.
The support and involvement of family members is a core component of the relationship-centered approach; the success of this approach is contingent on collaboration among family, the Eben Ezer team, and neighbors.
The Domains of Well-Being are 7 fundamental aspects of personhood that are the core of the Eden framework. They are the outcomes care professionals achieve when they put the Ten Principles of The Eden Alternative into action. At Eben Ezer, we are developing a culture that recognizes our neighbors are not just physical bodies that need fixing. They are whole human beings and they can and should help direct their own care.
The Eden Alternative Domains of Well-Being
Well–being is a human right.
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.
The Ten Principles of the Eden Alternative:
- Loneliness, helplessness, and boredom are painful and destructive to our health and well-being.
- A caring, inclusive and vibrant community enables all of us, regardless of age or ability, to experience well-being.
- We thrive when we have easy access to the companionship we desire. This is the antidote to loneliness.
- We thrive when we have purpose and the opportunity to give, as well as receive. This is the antidote to helplessness.
- We thrive when we have variety, spontaneity, and unexpected happenings in our lives. This is the antidote to boredom.
- Meaningless activity corrodes the human spirit. Meaning is unique to each of us and is essential to health and well-being.
- We are more than our medical diagnoses. Medical treatment should support and empower us to experience a life worth living.
- Decision-making must involve those most impacted by the decision. Empowerment activates choice, autonomy and influence.
- Building a collaborative and resilient culture is a never – ending process. We need to keep learning, developing and adapting.
- Wise leadership is the key to meaningful and lasting change. For it, there can be no substitute.
For more information visit The Eden Alternative.org (link to the Eden website) www.edenalt.org






