CD
Bessie Chase visits with Herman Kaufman at th Livonia Nursing Home.
I
he Detroit Jewish community Association of Jewish Homes, Housing
provides some housing — insti- and Services.
tutional and non-institutional
More than other groups, adds
— and a myriad of program- Cleveland State University's Dr. Boaz
ming for senior members. But Kahana, who has conducted
most agree that more services are sociological studies of elderly Jews in
needed as the local Jewish elderly com- Detroit, Jews regularly visit doctors.
munity joins national trends and in- And, he says, they do not face problems
crease& In fact, studies show, Jews may like alcoholism and other ailments
be living longer than other ethnic associated with shorter life expectancy.
groups.
But, Shore says, Jews must re-
A recent study by the American evaluate and straighten out priorities
Jewish Committee, Basic Trends in to help give proper care to the elderly.
American Jewish Demography, shows
"It is going to be a tidal wave:" says
that 17 percent of the estimated 5.6
million Jews in the United States are State Rep. David Hollister, D-Lansing,
over 65, compared to 13 percent for all chairman of the House appropriations
whites. That figure has escalated since social services subcommittee. "We
the 1971 National Jewish Population celebrate long lives, yet it creates enor-
Survey, which indicated 12 percent of mous fiscal hardships. The trend will
Jews in the United States were over 65. get worse. How will we care for them?"
State officials are bracing
"We spend more time taking care
of ourselves," explains Dr. Herb Shore, themselves for another round of budget
administrator for the North American cuts — which they say could slash
A Little Assistance
• • •
Hermine Weber just celebrated
her 103rd birthday with her two
children, five grandchildren, 28
great-grandchildren and five
great-great-grandchildren.
It should be a joyous occasion,
but Weber isn't very happy
anymore. She can't communicate
very well. She shifts between
English, German and Portuguese
and has difficulty differentiating
between the three languages.
She has lost concept of time
and can't hold her balance.
That's what brought her to a
nursing home. At 90, Weber travel-
ed to Brazil alone. At 101, she
needed just a little assistance. But
at 102, she was immobile. She had
lived with her daughter and son-in-
law, use and Alex Roberg, in their
Oak Park home for close to 40
years.
But home health care
assistants weren't dependable, and
the Robergs couldn't care for her
anymore. She had money, so they
opted for the West Bloomfield Con-
valescent and Nursing Center, a
private upscale nursing home.
There, like other state-of-the-art
private homes, costs range from
Medicaid as much as 26 percent. Fewer
dollars means fewer services for pa-
tients living in the state's 391 nursing
homes — 70 percent of whom receive
Medicaid. The state licenses 44,776
beds.
"We have just bad and worse news:'
suggests Michigan Social Services
Director C. Patrick Babcock.
At the Jewish Home For Aged's
three facilities, Borman Hall, Prentis
Manor and Fleischman Residence,
nearly two-thirds of the 418 residents
qualify for Medicaid. A typical resident
at the Home receives $46 a day in
Medicaid reimbursements — $37 less
than the daily cost. The Jewish com-
munity — via private donations, the
Allied Jewish Campaign and United
Jewish Charities — picks up some of
the tab. Yet the Home operates at a
deficit, and further cuts could force
Home officials to ax the budget.
$400 a week for minimum services
and can run as high as $1,000 a
week.
Weber, who is Orthodox, gets
kosher meals.
She also gets visitors. Her
daughter comes to the home every
day except Shabbat. The out-of-
town grandchildren write letters
and send cards.
Weber never dreamed she'd be
living in a nursing home. She came
to America in 1960 from Brazil,
where she lived with her husband,
Dr. Joseph Weber and his family
after fleeing Nazi Germany in
rojections show that one in
every five Americans will be
over 65 in 2030. And 1 mil-
lion Americans are expected to
be over 100 in 2010.
Social Services' Babcock says about
5.5 million people over 65 in the United
States need health care. Of those, 1.5
million live in nursing homes. The rest
rely on family and private health in-
surance. As numbers of elderly in-
crease, he says, the situation will get
worse.
Of the total state budget, the
percentage spent on social services,
mental and public health has increas-
ed by about 1 percent since 1979, while
spending on the Department of Correc-
tions — largely for prison construction
— has more than doubled.
The reason, says state Budget
Director Shelby Solomon, is the No. 1
concern of Michigan people has been
fighting crime and drug abuse.
1939. She moved to Detroit to live
with her daughter after Dr.
Weber's death.
At 63, she secured her first job
as a cook at the Yeshivath Beth
Yehudah. She worked for two years.
Weber was the secret giver in
town. She saved all of her money
from her job, social security and
reparations from Germany.
Hearing about simchas of poor
persons within the community, she
would anonymously send shoes.
lbday, all her savings are being
poured into life at the nursing
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