Eden Alternative

In October 2000, New Vista became the first Eden Alternative Care Home facility in BC.

The Eden Alternative philosophy contends that loneliness, boredom and helplessness account for most of the suffering of residents in long-term care facilities. As an Eden Care Home, New Vista is committed to fighting these plagues and providing a creative and fun habitat for its residents by promoting friendships, meaningful activities and independence.

Click here for more information about the Eden Alternative.

Guiding Principles to Creating an Eden Alternative Home

1. The three plagues of loneliness, helplessness and boredom account for the bulk of suffering in a human community.

2. Life in a truly human community revolves around close and continuing contact with children, plants and animals. These ancient relationships provide young and old alike with a pathway to a life worth living.

3. Loving companionship is the antidote to loneliness. In a human community, we must provide easy access to human and animal companionship.

4. To give another care makes us stronger. To receive care gracefully is a pleasure and an art. A healthy human community promotes both of these virtues in its daily life, seeking always to balance one with the other.

5. Trust in each other allows us the pleasure of answering needs of the moment. When we fill our lives with variety and spontaneity, we honour the world and our place in it.

6. Meaning is the food and water that nourishes the human spirit. It strengthens us. The counterfeits of meaning tempt us with hollow promises. In the end, they always leave us empty and alone.

7. Medical treatment should be the servant of genuine human caring, never its master.

8. In a human community, the wisdom of elders grows in direct proportion to the honour and respect accorded.

9. Human growth must never be separated from human life.

10. Wise leadership is the lifeblood of any struggle against the three plagues. For it, there can be no substitute.