There is an attempt to make nursing homes more comfortable and less sterile:

The green House Project's goal is to make a nursing home less like a sterile institution and more like an actual home.

Green House Project residents get family-style meals around an open kitchen. They decide how the house should be decorated. Plus, the care is hands on. The staff makes the residents' meals and eats with them.

The Green House Project has a much lower turnaround than in a traditional nursing home.

"It's about having the highest possible quality of life despite the fact that you are frail," said Jude Rabig, the national director of the Green House Project.

Rabig says the Green House Project doesn't cost any more to run than a traditional nursing home. In fact, state Medicaid pays the same amount per resident as in a regular nursing home.

"One of our goals was to make this an option for all elders, not just those who have huge resources," Rabig said. "So, if you qualify for nursing home care in your state and there is a 'greenhouse' in your state, you would qualify for the 'greenhouse.' "

(Stone, "Making the Nursing Home More Like 'Home'", ABC News, Aug.21)