Dr Bill Thomas and Judith Meyers-Thomas created the registry to honour organisations committed to the challenging work of transforming traditional approaches to care into a person-directed alternative. In a society that seldom honours caring for another, we need to uplift and celebrate those who have chosen this career path. The Eden Registry offers this opportunity and affirms that the current views on care can, indeed, be different.

The Eden Alternative name is a powerful promotional partner and marketing tool. The Eden Alternative website (USA) alone gets roughly 9,000 hits a month. The Eden Registry serves as a resource for those seeking an inspired workplace, and for individuals and families wanting something that reaches beyond the traditional model of care.

Even though Eden Alternative South Africa only came into existence in November 2011, we frequently get calls and emails from family members looking for an Eden registry organisation for their loved ones.

When you register with the Eden Alternative, you join an ever-widening family of organisations, professionals and elders dedicated to transforming the world of long-term care. Tangible benefits beyond that include:

1. Being listed on a reputable source for members of the public to find Eden Alternative homes and services.
2. Excel as a leader in the culture-change movement.
3. Permission to use the Eden Alternative SA trademarked name in your marketing information and for public relations purposes (whilst a financial and actively participating member in the Eden Alternative).
4. Being listed on the SA website, with a link to your website (should you have one).
5. Highlight what you have to offer through coverage in Eden Alternative media sources.
6. Access to private ‘registered homes only’ pages on the Eden Alternative website, where additional tools, resources and educational-support materials are located.
7. Discounts on attendance at Eden training courses.
8. Empower your organisation through exclusive access to the Path to Mastery: The Art of Creating a Caring Community™ tool to guide and monitor progress on the Eden Alternative journey.
9. Receive individualised support from the Eden Alternative Home Office.
10. A brochure to share with visitors.

Another benefit of being on the Eden Register is that it serves as an investment in the longer-term sustainability of the culture-change process embarked on by the current leadership. The culture-change process needs to be nurtured like a garden. Should a new leader or ‘gardener’ not understand why or how this new culture should be sustained, the institutional way of doing things will likely return to the home. All the good that was created over time, through hard work and dedication, could be destroyed.

Joining the Eden Register tells the whole world that your organisation or home is stepping up to create an environment in which life is worth living. It’s a never-ending journey that requires a strong commitment from leadership to drive the changes.

Full integration of the Eden Alternative impacts the physical environment, organisational structure and psycho-social interactions of the organisation. Individual principles highlight different aspects of your Eden Alternative journey. In establishing goals for growth, homes may consider how to best live out each principle for the benefit of the elders, the staff and the organisation as a whole. Keep in mind that the Eden Alternative is a journey, not a destination.

Joining the Eden Register may take as little as six months, if you have already begun your culture-change journey, or as much as 12-18 months, if you are new to person-directed care. In either case, the Eden Alternative has tools and resources to help you succeed, including:

• Resource guides and toolkits for each Path to Mastery Milestone
• Support to provide individualised assistance
• Eden Path to Mastery Guides to support the growth of leadership teams
• Ongoing educational offerings and training kits.

For more details, read the Journey to joining the Eden SA Register to assist your team in beginning the registry-application process. To receive a registry application and get answers to additional questions, please contact our Home Office at 062 086 1158 / magda@edenalt.co.za