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HD" 1.0 .7 CD .7,. 7 0.7. 01 0: 01 01" 2985 Haggerty Road • Walled Lake 1/4 mile north of Pontiac Trail cdt2v9 era n ayld egaff ff6 a LOA %Vida dizeit eubtomets Gramilieb a diapp# cuul diealth# elem. yeat 29520 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield • 353-4060 WE WISH YOU A NEW YEAR FILLED WITH GOOD HEALTH AND HAPPINESS! Lois, Julie, Kim, Cindy and the rest of the girls at in the Orchard Mall, West Bloomfield The mentally frail bene it rom day care. I n order to meet the needs of the growing number of Israelis suffering from Alzheimer's dis- ease and other types of mental deterioration (in 1950, only 4 per- cent of the new nation's population was over the age of 65, but today nearly 10 percent are senior citizens), a number of innovatiye programs have been introduced into some of the country's 125 day care centers. Run by the local authorities, ESHEL (the branch. of the American Joint Distribution Committee which provides Services to the Aged), and government ministries, many facul- ties are modeled after Melabev" (a . Hebrew acronym for Community Clubs for the Mentally Impaired), a leader in developing day care for the mentally frail elderly. The prevailing tendency in Israel is for the elderly to remain at home, in their own familiar communities. For this reason, multi-service day care centers are one of the prevalent form of assistance provided by Israel's innovative Nursing Law. The National Insurance Institute initiated this special benefit for frail and impaired elderly seven years ago which makes possible not only day care, but also professional caregivers, laundry services, beepers and hot lunches. With offices in Shaare Zedek hos- pital, 15-year-old Melabev (which in English means "heart-warming"), operates five day care centers in Jerusalem founded to provide a thera- peutic and social framework and to enhance the quality of life of those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease or similar disorders. This enables family members to continue their daily activities, knowing that their loved ones are receiving excellent care in a support- ive environment while enjoying stim- ulating activities like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, art, music, movement and dance therapies, and cooking. A creative approach most recently initiated has been the design and use of a special computer program to activate patience and stimulate cogni- tive functions. This project, now undergoing trials in Melabev's Shaare Zedek center, was developed by Elimelech Lange, a computer pro- grammer, and his wife, Yehudit, a social worker with Melabev. They began with two programs: one using arithmetic computations and one based on geometric shapes and col- ors. In both, the patients, via the computer, work on basic skills (addi- tion, subtraction, identifying shapes and colors, etc.) that they may not have been called upon to use since the early stages of their illness. Not only do they seem to retain that kn owledge form session to session, but they are learning something new and modern — the use of a computer. Day care in Israel for seniors. _Another recent development is that of a intergenerational program- ming: Although bringing children together with the elderly in the day care centers has been a part of the Melabev activities for some time, last year a shiduch was organized between a Jerusalem elementary school in the Old City, the state religious school HaRovah, and the San Simone Melabev center. That project, now in its second year, has fifth and sixth graders attending the Melabev center weekly, on a rotation basis, to offer a helping hand and to participate in the activities there. Melabev also offers educational materials to family members and the use of a library to professionals and lay caregivers. The library at Melabev was donated by a grateful family member. It includes copies of the lat- est editions of professional books and journals which report on the most recent developments in Alzheimer's research and suggestions on the care of its victims. With prevailing tendency in Israel being to keep Alzheimer's sufferers at home and the number of aged expected to grow considerably over the next few year, patients and their families need all the help they can get. The programs of the multi-ser- vice centers such as Melabev, there- fore can expect to continue providing compassionate, responsive and quali- ty care for many years to come.