Los Angeles Jewish Home

Living life to the fullest — that is what we all strive to do every day. Our golden years present a better opportunity to live life, learn new talents, revisit old hobbies, or seek out new adventures than at any other time in our lives.

Often, seniors must look to the care of others so they can continue to add life to their years. Whether dealing with the normal signs of aging or abrupt emergencies, it pays to be prepared. With a little education and some planning ahead, the transition into the different levels of care can be seamless and nearly stress free.

Starting this month, the Los Angeles Jewish Home's expert staff is organizing four short seminars to help with that education and planning process. From choosing the best in-home caregiver, to in-residence options, advanced directives, and hospice care, we want to help the greater Los Angeles community care better for their aging loved ones.

Our first seminar will be held on Tuesday, May 17th at 6:30pm. Entitled How to Find, Hire, and Manage the Right Caregiver, the Jewish Home's vice president of human resources, Shelly Ryan, and the CEO/administrator of our skilled nursing hospital, Ilana Grossman, will explain what to look for if you or someone you love needs a little extra daily assistance.

Oh, one more thing — all four events are free! But space is limited and reservations are required.

For more information, click on the picture to see the official event postcard. Or, you can visit here to see the web version.

Labels: Aging, Caregiver, Caregiving, Community, Education, Free Seminar, Healthy Aging, Jewish Home Event, Planning, Senior Care, Staff

It's always interesting to see how Eastern medicinal techniques make their way into Western practices. Today's posts in The New Old Age, an award winning blog sponsored by The New York Times, talks about the use of reiki in special care centers to help people with dementia.

In a recent Jewish Home Feature Article, Dr. Edward Schneider explained that Eastern and Western medicine can complement one another. What would be interesting to know definitively, though, is whether reiki can physically heal, or whether the presence of a calm caregiver or peaceful music simply puts dementia patients at ease.

What do you think?

Labels: Alternative Medicine, Caregiving, Dementia, Eastern Medicine, For the Body, Healing, Health, Japanese Medicine, New York Times, Reiki, Schneider, Staff, The New Old Age, Traditional Medicine, Wellness

Cross posted from the Daily News.


By Al Martinez, Columnist

The came like an army of saints, sometimes in multiples and sometimes one at a time.

Their mission was simple but compelling: to get us through a time of grief and anxiety.

I sing today of the Skirball Hospice program, medical personnel and volunteers working out of Encino to bring comfort to the dying and their families, in their homes, in rest homes or in hospitals.

They came to our house when doctors and chemo and machines could do no more for our daughter Cindy, who died last week of cancer.

Their job wasn't to keep her alive but to ease her gently into heaven without pain or the discomforts that often attend a person's last days. They bathed her, medicated her, prayed for her and held her hand.

One can imagine that kind of caring on a battlefield where a solder lay dying of his wounds in the blood and dust of combat, and being cared for by a medic or a hospital corpsman, because cancer too is a ruthless and mighty enemy with killing fields of its own.

The concept of hospice care is rooted in the 11th century as an element of moral compulsion to tend the terminally ill. Skirball Hospice began in Los Angeles in 2001 as a program for the Jewish Home funded in part by the Skirball Foundation. Its services are offered to the terminally ill and families 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Caring never sleeps.

We knew of them from Cindy's doctor, who recommended that she be placed under home hospice care, which is what she wanted, close to the things she loved, including three cats, Tigger, Sarah and Star, who rarely left her side.

A social worker came first, explained the insurance-covered, nondenominational program and then was followed by a multicultural army of nurses, assistant medical personnel, bathers, various other attendants and a rabbi. They were African-American, Asian, Latino, Russian and Caucasian. It didn't matter to them what our ethnic mix was. It never matters at Skirball.

Then came the drugs at various times, the morphine and tranquilizers and whatever else was required to sedate our daughter in her final weeks and to keep her free from pain. There came a hospital bed, too, a portable toilet, oxygen and items I've probably missed in the bustle of the process.

Some staff members appeared in person periodically and others as needed, responding to telephone calls deep into the night. They were there for us all in the final days of Cindy's life, holding our hand as well as hers.

When it became clear that the final moment was approaching, they sent a woman to bathe her and sit by her side until the night and the essence of Cindy merged at 1:35 a.m. I will be ever grateful to the hospice group members for the grace and gentility they displayed in guiding her into eternity. They are special.

Al Martinez writes a column on Mondays and Fridays. He can be reached at almtz13@aol.com.


Read the original column here.

Labels: Al Martinez, Cancer, Caregiving, Cross Post, Daily News, For the Spirit, Hospice Care, Jewish Home Services, medical staff, nurses, Palliative Care, Skirball Hospice, Staff, Volunteer

Cross posted from ElderDepot.com.



Maria Shriver helped cared for her father, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, and has become a champion of Alzheimer’s Caregivers. Her journalism career began with KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but she soon moved up to the National News and later gained a different sort of fame when she married Arnold Schwarzenegger. The former First Lady of California has been a lifelong advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and recently co-authored an Alzheimer’s study with the Alzheimer’s Association.


Princess Yasmin Aga Khan cared for her mother, Rita Hayworth, who was suffering from dementia. Yasmin is internationally recognized for her advocacy work promoting awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease.


Steve Slater cared for his father, who suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease, until his death. In 2010, while caring for his mother who suffers from Lung Cancer, Steve achieved national notoriety for quitting his job as a JetBlue Flight Attendant in spectacular fashion.


Susan Boyle was the primary caregiver for her elderly mother until she passed away at the age of 91. In 2009, two years after her mother passed away, Susan appeared on Britain’s Got Talent and gave a performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” that made her an International Sensation overnight.


Rosalynn Carter helped care for her father when he was diagnosed with terminal leukemia and has since cared for several family members, including her late mother who died in 2000 at the age of 94. The former First Lady of the United States has even authored a book on Caregiving entitled, Helping Yourself Help Others – A Book for Caregivers.


Can you think of Famous Caregivers that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add them to the list.


Read the original blog post.

Labels: Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Cross Post, Dementia, Elder Depot, Eldercare, For the Spirit, Senior Care, Staff

Labels: Alzheimer's, Cancer, Caregiving, Depression, Drug Abuse, Health, Healthy Aging, Mental Health, Nutrition, Resources, Senior Resources, Staff, Substance Abuse, Transportation, Website, Wellness