There is a trend
toward independent
housing for the elderly.

vices provided for the residents that
really matter."
The Trowbridge lobby, basking in
the light from an eight-floor atrium,
is the center of informal activity. The
large lobby bulletin board lists the
day's events: 9:15 a.m. trip to a local
television show; 9:30 a.m. Farmer
Jacks; 11 a.m. Exercise; 1 p.m. Trip to
Southfield library; and 7:30 p.m. Lec-
ture: Art and the Artist.
This morning a maintenance man
helps set up chairs and tables for a
regular meeting of the residential
food committee. The large multi-
purpose room, in which craft ac-
tivities, exercise classes, and meetings
take place, is empty except for the
stacks of envelopes and letters
waiting to be stuffed by residents who
volunteer their time for area non-
profit organizations.
Staff members are busy confirming
that each resident, whose average
age is 81, has either been seen that
morning or telephoned to make cer-
tain that all is wel1.1\wo ladies are sit-
ting under hair dryers at the beauty
salon; a half dozen people are

gathered at the nook, a place for hav-
ing a snack and buying a few essen-
tial grocery items, and several others
are milling about the lobby, making
small talk while waiting for rides to
appointments.
Although older residents may be
active and independent at the time
they move into a facility like The Trow-
bridge, as they age, they gradually
need additional services.
"We've just established a separate
corridor on one floor of the building
for residents who require more
regularly assisted living," says
Margeaux Grameno, assistant direc-
tor. "Some of our residents may re-
quire special help with medication or
bathing, but as they get older, they're
going to need more assistance. To
provide this support we've establish-
ed an area at The Trowbridge which
we call our independent living net-
work (ILN) which includes extensive
services for personal and health care."
The fees for these services are in
addition to the rent for a one-
bedroom apartment. The rent does
include meals, maid service, transpor-

tation, 24-hour staff and closed-circuit
security.
"It's important for people, at any
age, to be independent," explains Dr.
Alicia Tisdale, family psychologist.
"We all want to control our own lives
and not have to depend on others.
Even so, when the time comes for the
elderly to move from their homes to
a special retirement facility, it's impor-
tant for adult children to listen to what
their parents are saying. As long as
the elderly can meet their own
physical needs and are rational, they
should be making the choice where
they want to live. "I want to live by
myself" expresses their need to feel
hopeful and competent versus feel-
ings of helplessness and depression."
"The atmosphere here makes me
feel good," says Betty Larner, 83-year-
old resident of Fleischman Resi-
dence/Blumberg Plaza, one of the
facilities of the Jewish Home for Aged.
"I'm from Cleveland and I didn't want
to be alone anymore. I have a
daughter in this area so it seemed the
wise thing to move here and I'm very
happy here. There are lots of activities
that I can participate in if I want and
lots of people to talk to when I feel
Left:
Trowbridge
like talking."
residents enjoy
Housing provisions, more than any
leisurely
other type of designed environment
activities in the
for the aged, must address a vast
dining hall.
range of issues, needs, and abilities.
The fact is that the importance of the
Opposite Page: housing environment as a provider
Jacob Cohen in
for daily needs, friendship, and self-
his Trowbridge
fulfillment, grows with advancing
Apartment.
years. Thus providing a home, not an
institution, becomes the foremost
goal in balancing independence with
care, and the functional with the
social and aesthetic.
The Jewish Home for Aged not on-
ly provides for the elderly who re-
quire skilled nursing care (Borman
Hall in Detroit and Prentis Manor in
Southfield), it also provides a place
to live for those elderly who need

FALL '91 35

