Regardless of age or physical condition, intellectually curious seniors have many opportunities in the Los Angeles area to participate in an educational program that fits their needs in an enriching, stimulating and affordable environment.
Although old-age homes have always existed in Israel for those who cannot care for themselves, it is only in recent years that the American idea of retiring to a comfortable community of seniors has taken off here.
The Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Medical Center,which will be dedicated Oct. 29 as the newest facility at the Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda.
When Amy Kaplan heard about Betty (not her real name), a Jewish Family Service client in her early 70s who said she couldn\’t afford all of her medications, Kaplan suspected there was more to the story.
Susie Tiffany of Beverly Hills suffers from a rare blood disorder and needs monthly infusions of blood components, which her insurance company ultimately declined to cover. She hoped the government\’s new prescription drug benefit would help her out because, despite her ZIP code, she\’s a low-income senior. But the possibilities, were baffling: an array of private insurance plans that covered different things, explanations on the Internet that included terms she never had to know before, additional complexities depending on a person\’s income and a confusing interplay of state and federal agencies. However, Tiffany was able to find assistance in her case from Jewish Family Service. A social worker helped get Tiffany\’s treatment covered by new state funds intended to help seniors with the transition to the new federal system.
Israeli politics were shaken to their core by dark horse newcomers belonging to a party few had heard of. Close to a quarter of a million Israelis voted for the Pensioners Party, also known as GIL (age), a party run by nonpoliticians that didn\’t even exist three months ago; a party founded only after the regular political parties ignored the pleas of its constituents and relegated their demands low on the totem poll.
Weight-loss prevention is one of the principal areas of investigation at the Borun Center, a joint venture between JHA and UCLA\’s David Geffen School of Medicine. Housed on the JHA campus in Reseda, the center was established in 1989 to identify and test nonmedical measures that could improve daily care and quality of life for nursing home residents.
Sure, I\’ve dated a fair amount, but the over-70 age range is one even I haven\’t yet ventured into. Don\’t have a clue as to what those gals have on their mind. But judging from the women I do know, I\’m guessing cats and jewelry wouldn\’t be too far off.
Stella Goren is only about 4-foot-10, but she packs a strong punch.
It all started when she was turning 79, and her husband asked what she wanted for her birthday.
\”I\’d like to work out at a gym with a personal trainer,\” Goren told him.
In spite of thinking she was meshugge and assuming this wouldn\’t last, her husband gave his wife of 45 years what she wanted.
\”I was very happy,\” Sam Goren recalled. \”I didn\’t have to go out and buy her a present.\”
It turned out to be the perfect gift. Goren has been working out at the In Training Fitness Center in Hollywood, and loving it, for the past five years.
Since most Americans lose their dental insurance benefits when they retire, the majority of people over 65 pay out of pocket every time they visit a dentist. Medicare does not cover routine dental care (nor does Medicaid in most states) and more than 80 percent of older Americans have no private dental insurance, according to a recent report by nonprofit advocacy group Oral Health America.
Yet, older adults may need dental care more than any other age group.
\”Patients age 65 and over will have potentially an increase in cavities or decay on the root surfaces of the teeth,\” said Dr. Matthew Messina, an American Dental Association consumer adviser and practicing dentist in Cleveland. \”And that comes secondary to the medical condition of dry mouth — a decrease in the amount of production of saliva because of age and certain medications…. We also see periodontal disease in patients of that population.\”
Messina advises his older patients to see a dentist at least once every six months for an oral cancer screening and recommends an annual visit for denture wearers.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.