William Thomas, Erickson School, in the Salt Lake Tribune

Professor Bill Thomas of UMBC’s Erickson School was featured in the Salt Lake Tribune this week, as he appeared in Utah to speak about the Eden Alternative model of senior care. Thomas has spent his career promoting more positive living environments for the elderly. “It is highly stigmatizing to have to surrender your freedom to get the care you need,” he commented, of people who enter nursing homes. Current institutional elder living facilities are often highly regimented, with residents eating at the same time and staffers wearing hospital scribes. Thomas is seeking a shift to more home-like environments that promote autonomy, individuality and agency among seniors, and improve quality of life.