100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials may be under copyright. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact the Bentley Historical Library at bentley.ref@umich.edu

December 23, 1988 - Image 25

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1988-12-23

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

it

accept only privately insured in-
dividuals — thus excluding the
Medicaid clients.
Other problems abound. It is not
uncommon for The Jewish Home For
Aged to have separate waiting lists for
its 312 beds at two nursing homes —
Borman Hall and Prentis Manor —
and for 106 beds at Fleischman
Residence. The Home for years has
been trying to prove to the state that
it needs to serve the Jewish communi-
ty where it lives, which means putting
more beds in the suburbs. Without a
certificate of need, a new nursing home
at the Maple/Drake Jewish Communi-
Harry Okrent, a retired lawyer.
ty Center campus can't be built.
"Our facilities are no longer ade-
quate to fully meet the community's
needs:" says Dr. Conrad Giles, president
of the Jewish Welfare Federation.
A large problem shared by many of
the state's non-profit nursing homes is
a loophole in a state law which allows
elderly who can afford to pay for nurs-
ing home care to buck the system by
giving away all assets to their children
and going on Medicaid.
"A lot of people think it's somebody
else's job to pay for this:' says Allan
Funk, executive vice president for the
Jewish Home For Aged. He says each
new year brings 10 to 20 such cases to
the Home.
The law states one cannot divest
himself of income or assets within 30
months of applying for Medicaid. But
Gizella Okrent crochets blankets.
to be prosecuted, the state must prove
their caretakers to select one of the that any divesting was done exclusive-
newer upscale, for-profit nursing homes ly to be placed on Medicaid. Bentsen,
built by private developers, such as the of the state's non-profit home group,
West Bloomfield Convalescent and says he does not believe anyone has
Nursing Center and Windemere, which been prosecuted under this law.
The availability of low-income
for room and board for one week cost
about $400 for basic services to over housing also poses concerns. Several
$1,000 a week for extra services such area apartment complexes such as
as special diets and medication. Unlike Somerset and Trowbridge have been
the non-profit homes, such institutions marketing their apartments to the

elderly by offering specialized services.
But like costly private nurses, and for-
profit nursing homes, these options are
limited to those elderly who have
money.
For the less frail with limited
funds, it takes at least two years to rent
one of 370 government-subsidized
Jewish Federation Apartments in Oak
Park or West Bloomfield. A 10-year
fight for more housing will culminate
when 150 additional apartments are
completed this fall in Oak Park.
Federation apartment officials
would not specify the length of the
waiting list. They would only say that
it is long, and that everybody knows it.
Donald Potter, executive director
for the Southeast Michigan Hospital
Council, says society must not sit back
and wait for the government to provide
for them.
"We must collectively take care of
our own. We must be responsible to
make sure we adequately insure
ourselves," he adds.
As a result, Jewish leaders say, the
community must do more to protect its
elderly and insure its future.
"It is becoming increasingly more
difficult to meet the needs of our ag-
ing community:' Dr. Giles says.
"Medicaid reimbursements hurt and
the Jewish community is picking up
the difference."
The Federation has formed a com-
mittee to study the problems of the ag-
ing. A 1984 joint study by the Federa-
tion and the University of Michigan on
the socio-demographic and needs of the
Jewish elderly reinforces that Detroit's
Jewish elderly is a community in need.
It showed a need for programs for
outreach, transportation, home health
care, housing and relocation services
and respite care programs, including
day care. It also addressed developing

counseling and social support
programs.
The outreach program at JVS has
since improved its scope. In addition to
identifying and visiting the isolated
Jewish elderly in the inner city,
volunteers make Chanukah and
Pasgover parties for those needy Jewish
residents in nursing and adult foster
care homes. The Jewish community
also sponsors Meals on Wheels pro-
grams, provides social activities and
some transportation for shut-ins.
On the drawing board is a joint pro-
gram by Sinai Hospital and the Jewish
Home For Aged that would provide a
geriatric assessment facility for the
elderly.
Dr. Melvyn Rubenfire, who heads
, Sinai's Department of Medicine, hopes
to someday rotate medical residents in-
to the Home For Aged to mutually-
benefit young doctors and members of
the aging community. The doctors, he
says, would get firsthand exposure to
the relatively new field of geriatrics,
and the residents of the nursing homes
would be provided with quality care.
Recently, the Jewish Community
Center launched an Institute for
Retired Professionals. The Institute
provides discussion and group par-
ticipation classes geared to boost in-
tellectual curiosity among members of
the growing over-65 group.
Modern medicine provided
mechanisms for keeping people alive
longer. Now the job of caring for the
elderly becomes a joint concern of the
government and the private sector.
_ "There is a 40 percent chance that
anyone living today will need long-
term care at some point;' says Deborah
Cloud, spokesperson for the American
Association of Homes For Aging in
Washington, D.C. "The key is educa-
tion. The need for national and public
policies is evident." ❑

Community Offers Services To The Aging

Wearing protective glasses and
holding a chisel in his hand, Irving
Stepak, 79, carves a wooden
sculpture to add to his 50-piece
collection.
He wears a heart-shaped
necklace which bears a chai in its
center. Stepak made it himself.
Woodcarving is his solace.
For three hours each weekday
morning, Stepak joins a group of
senior woodcarvers at the Oak
Park branch of the Jewish Com-
munity Center. They carve
professional-quality art pieces that
could be sold. The men prefer to
give them away as gifts.
The program is one of a myriad
of activities the Jewish communi-
ty offers to aid the senior members.
According to Miriam Sandweiss,

JCC director of senior adult ac-
tivities, these provide support
groups for the elderly.
After his woodcarving group,
Stepak goes to his Oak Park home
to care for his wife, Pauline, who
suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
Caring for his ailing wife, who
was diagnosed with the
degenerative neurological disease
five years ago, is a hard task for the
retired butcher. But, he says, he
has no choice. A nursing home is
out of the question unless they
both go.
"You can repeat that story over
and over," Sandweiss says. "We give
them a locus for cultural and social
activities."
About 1,500 seniors participate
in JCC-sponsored programs each

week at the Maple/Drake and Oak
Park sites. Classes include art,
dance and aerobics. The Institute
For Retired Professionals also pro-
vides discussion groups in such
areas as Bible, film study, current
events, literature, travel and
medical ethics.
Sandweiss says programs will
soon be geared toward the more
rapidly growing over-75 age group.
The Jewish Vocational Services
also assists Detroit's Jewish elder-
ly community. Senior Adult
Workshop provides supervised
work activities, health
maintenance and counseling ser-
vices for those over 60. Senior Ser-
vice Corps offers volunteer work for
those over 60, and for handicapped
individuals over 55. Participants

Bessie Chase, a senior who helps seniors.

work at various community agen-
cies and hospitals, including Sinai
Hospital.
Continued on next page

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

25

Back to Top

© 2024 Regents of the University of Michigan