Los Angeles Jewish Home

Taking the steps necessary to prevent falls are among the most important things to do for seniors. Unfortunately, nearly a third of all seniors will experience a fall. In the majority of those cases, if a senior fractures a bone from a serious fall, it is either fatal or significantly shortens his or her life (page 6). The good news, thankfully, is the vast majority of falls are completely preventable!

National Fall Prevention Day happens tomorrow, September 22nd—appropriately during the Fall. Organizations from coast to coast are reaching out with helpful information for seniors and their families to help stave off slips and tumbles.

Many of the most common causes of falls are well known, and the Jewish Home has been sharing the recommended ways to stay upright for a number of years. (The hyperlinked story is from December 2010.) From fall-proofing a senior's home to simply wearing sturdier shoes, the ways to prevent these catastrophic spills are relatively easy to do. Also important is physical fitness. Taking the time to keep leg, core, and balance muscles stimulated and healthy will go a long way to keeping seniors on their feet.

Recently, McKnight's, a leading long-term care and senior living magazine, published an interesting article about a new study on fall prevention. Researchers from UCLA found that among "Medicare beneficiaries [i.e., seniors] who had their cataracts removed, 16% fewer had hip fractures within the first year of surgery than those who did not."

And that percentage climbs the older the sample group gets. "Study participants between the ages of 80 and 84 experienced the biggest benefit of the surgery, with a 28% reduced risk of fractures."

So take a moment tomorrow to assess your surroundings and the living situations of the seniors you care about. A couple of simple changes could save lives.

Labels: Aging, Balance, Cataracts, Fall Prevention, Falling, Healthy Aging, Home Safety, McKnight's, National Fall Prevention Day, Safety, Seniors, September 22, UCLA

Originally reported in the Los Angeles Times on September 10, 2012 by Martha Groves.

The Los Angeles Jewish Home, a leading provider of senior housing in the L.A. area, has bought 2.5 acres at Playa Vista and plans to establish its first Westside facility, officials said Saturday.

Plans call for developing a senior care community that would become the hub for a network of related services.

Now in its centennial year, the Jewish Home opened in 1912 in Boyle Heights to give shelter to five residents. For the next few decades, Boyle Heights -- named for Andrew Boyle, an Irish immigrant -- served as the hub of Jewish life in the area.

In 1975, the home followed the Jewish migration to the San Fernando Valley, selling its Eastside home to Japanese American interests that created what is now Keiro Senior HealthCare.

The Jewish Home's two campuses in Reseda now serve about 2,600 elderly clients each year, including about 1,000 residents and 1,600 clients of clinics and other programs.

Most of the residents are people dependent on government assistance, said Bonnie Polishuk, marketing manager. Residents' average age is 90, a figure that has skyrocketed over the years from about 60 when the home first opened, she said.

"Our average age is older than the general population in U.S. nursing homes," Polishuk said.

Jewish Home officials said the push into the Westside was in part a response to pent-up demand. Of 400 people on the home's waiting list, half live on the Westside. The average waiting time is 18 months.

Plans call for developing services for elderly care in the Village at Playa Vista, an as-yet uncompleted portion of the Playa Vista development south of Marina del Rey.

The new facility is expected to serve an additional 500 seniors a year.

Being Jewish is not a requirement for residency.

Among those that have donated funds to create the Playa Vista facility are the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Foundation and the Saul Brandman Foundation.

Labels: Brandman, CCRC, Continuing Care Retirement Community, Gonda Healthy Aging Westside Campus, Los Angeles Times, PACE, Playa Vista, Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, Senior Care, Westside