The 'Green House' effect; the rise of community care; and suicide awareness Baltimore: When he took a parttime job in a nursing home, Harvard-trained physician Bill Thomas realised that the biggest problems residents faced were not their illnesses but 'loneliness, helplessness and boredom'. He went on to found the Eden Alternative, 'a movement to de-institutionalise nursing homes', and has since revolutionised older people's residential care around Baltimore, replacing nursing homes with clusters of small homes, each for up to ten residents. Called 'Green Houses', Dr Thomas now has a $10 million (£5.6 million) grant to replace more than 100 nursing homes in all 50 US states with these small dwellings. Last month he began teaching an experimental class at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Erickson School on Aging, Management and Policy: 'Aging 100: You Say You Want a Revolution'. Classes will be broadcast on YouTube.