The below was originally scheduled to run in the Sept. 21 edition of The Forecaster. Due to space constraints, it was pushed back and pushed back until it was no longer timely. I thought I’d post it here.
Architect, 28, seeks insight by admitting himself for 9 days
Evan Carroll, co-founder of Bild Architecture in Portland, stayed at Maine Veterans' Home in Scarborough for nine days in an effort to gain insight into how the physical properties of nursing homes affect the daily lives of residents.
SCARBOROUGH — Evan Carroll slowly made his way through the halls of the Maine Veterans’ Home in Scarborough last Monday. He uses a walker, and is making the trek from the dementia unit, where he’s been staying, to the rehabilitation unit. Two nurses help carry all his belongings.
“I’m just going to the other end of the building,” he tells another resident. “I’ll come back and visit.”
Though he’s not going far, it’s still a big shift for Carroll. He said he’s gotten to know the other residents and the staff in the dementia unit. Now he’ll have to get to know new neighbors, new nurses and doctors, new support staff.
Luckily for Carroll, a 28-year-old architect, he didn’t have to adjust permanently. Carroll was participating in “Learning by Living, ” a program created by Dr. Marilyn Gugliucci of the University of New England. At the end of his nine-day stay at the veterans home, he got to go back to his real home in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood. He doesn’t even need the walker.
