Los Angeles Jewish Home

This June is the inaugural Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month. Because Alzheimer’s Disease poses a threat to anyone with a brain, much research has been done to see if there is any way to prevent brain killing disease. With a little bit of regular exercise, mental stimulation, mental unwinding, and the right kind diet we can slow down, prevent, and reverse the side effects of this mental disease.

• Try brisk walking or jogging for at least forty minutes.
• Try using the elliptical, treadmill, or stationary bike at your local gym.
• Try doing a few pushups. If you can’t do full ones, rest on your knees.
• Try swimming.Water immersion increases blood flow to the brain.

• Try brushing your teeth or hair with your non-dominant hand.
• Try eating a meal with the utensil in your non-dominant hand.
• Try writing and reading from the right to the left.
• Try tying your shoes the opposite way. Reverse the direction you loop the laces.
• Try teasing your memory. Create a silly story or help you remember a word or list.
• Try socializing. Meet with friends and recall names or details from events past.
• Try favorite pastimes. Reading, writing, board games, and puzzles keep the brain active.

•  Try breathing exercises. Inhale and deeply exhale while counting to five. Repeat five times.
• Try meditation. Focus your mind on one word or mantra and refocus if your mind wanders.
• Try guided imagery. Imagine a familiar experience that interacts will all of your senses.
• Try getting a massage. Relax and focus on each methodical touch during this calming activity.

• Try elderberries. These delicious sweeties reduce cellular inflammation.
• Try pecans. These chewy nuts reduce neural degeneration.
• Try vegetable juice. It’s easier than eating all your vitamins and antioxidants.
• Try beets. Beets are full of nitrates which increase blood flow to the brain.
• Try avocados. Avocados give your brain the healthy fat it needs to function.
• Try skipping the red meat. Fish, chicken, turkey, and cold water seafood are delicious.
• Try limiting sugars and grains in your diet. These foods lead to plaques in the brain.

Zelda Moyal is known around the Jewish Home's Eisenberg Village (EV) Campus for her positive attitude, beautiful smile, and love of dancing. When constant lower back pain began to limit her activities, she saw a doctor who ordered an MRI. The test revealed a bone was touching a nerve, causing discomfort all the way to her feet. The doctor gave Zelda three options: surgery, cortisone injections, or a life of pain. After consulting with her doctor at the Home, Dr. Nallini Gnanadesigan, Zelda opted for surgery.

On April 25th, the surgery was successfully performed. The next evening, Zelda was transferred from the hospital to the Home's Ida Kayne Transitional Care Unit at Grancell Village for rehabilitative care. Imagine her surprise, and pleasure, when she entered her semi-private room and found her next door neighbor from the Eisenberg Campus! Yes, neighbor and friend Rhoda Weinberg was there to welcome Zelda as she began her road to recovery. Rhoda recently fractured a vertebra and was on the mend herself. Now, they could offer each other support and encouragement as they recuperated together. "We talked all the time, sometimes in Yiddish," says Zelda. "She helped me to not get depressed."

As part of Zelda's rehab, she received physical therapy twice daily. The morning session focused on how to do regular activities, such as dressing, sitting and standing, without twisting her back. In the afternoon, she walked and did balance exercises. "Everyone there was wonderful," says Zelda. She worked closely with physical therapy assistant Jeff Rale. "He took care of me and is a good person," says Zelda. "I learned a lot from Jeff." Zelda realized that much of her recovery was on her shoulders. "I was always a good kid…I listened to my teachers. Now I listened to what the therapists and nurses told me."

And while Zelda was learning from her therapists and nurses, others were learning from her. "Zelda exuded positive energy and passion for life," observes Daisy Mann, director of rehabilitation. "She was motivated to regain her independence in rehab and get back to her life at Eisenberg Village." When Daisy visited EV with Zelda for home assessment, she was amazed at the welcome Zelda received. "People were overjoyed to see her! She exemplifies the expression, "others don't remember you by your actions but by how your actions make them feel."

At the end of May, Zelda returned to her home — and life — at Eisenberg Villages and hopes to be up and dancing with joy in the near future.



For more information about rehabilitative care at the Jewish Home, please contact the Ida Kayne Transitional Care Unit at (818) 774-3308 or visit our website at www.jha.org/about/transitional-care.asp.

Life began with waking up and loving my mother's face.
— George Eliot

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From May 15th to May 22nd the Jewish Home staff, residents, and visitors celebrated Staff Appreciation Week. Employees from all of the Home's facilities were encouraged to come and celebrate this week of non-stop food, friends, and fun at the Grancell and Eisenberg Village Campuses. Events included a bagel breakfast, instant recess, an old-fashioned picnic, the Forrest Cup Volleyball Tournament, breakfast burrito fiesta, talent show, carne asada barbecue, and Employee Recognition Ceremony. Among the tried and true events from the past was the brand new Build-a-Leader Show. In this activity, staff members and leaders from various departments were dressed up in silly costumes.

Like in years past, the employee talent show was comprised of acts of all sorts. Fantastic dancers stunned audiences with Mexican-American Quebradita, traditional Indian, belly dancing, Western line dancing, black and white Illusion dancing, modern hip hop, and body isolation dance performances. Phenomenal performers sang and played songs "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio, "Trouble" by Coldplay, "Smooth" by Santana, "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias, and a mash-up of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World." Several staff members chose to showcase their lip-syncing talent. "Do-Re-Mi" from Sound of Music, "You're the One that I Want" from Grease, "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher, "The Fox" by Ylvis, "Yo Ho" from Pirates of the Caribbean, "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO, "Conga" by Gloria Estefan and "Happy" by Pharrell were just a few of the songs our performers lip-synced to.

And finally, the Staff Appreciation week concluded with the Employee Recognition Ceremony. Outstanding employees were showered in applause and appreciation for all of the contributions they've made to the Home over the years. Long standing staff members who have been working with the Home for 5, 10, 13, 15, 20, and 25 years were honored for their diligence within the community.

As the Home's staff members revert to their normal work schedules after a multitude of shared meals, exciting events, and fun festivities, they do so with a sense of joy knowing their hard work really does make a difference within the Jewish Home's community. Vice president of human resources Sharon Ginchansky comments on the importance of this celebratory week, "The Home prides itself on treating staff like family. We appreciate them every day, but this week in particular gives us an incredible chance to show just how much we love our staff. We are very appreciative of all they do for the Home."

Please click here to view photos from Staff Appreciation Week 2014.

Special thanks to the Home's Human Resources Department, Dietary Department, and Housekeeping Department for working so hard to make sure this week of festivities was an incredible success!



Anjelica Rehl is the Digital Marketing Associate at the Jewish Home.