Los Angeles Jewish Home

Gambling addiction among seniors is a growing problem. The cocktail of loneliness, cognitive decline, too much free time, and the perception of money to spare have the potential to create a perfect storm that could lead to a serious mental condition and a financial mess.

Enter Dr. Timothy Fong, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. His life work is dedicated to finding the root causes of — and solutions to — gambling addiction.

After receiving his Medical Doctorate from Northwestern University, Dr. Fong did his residency and served in a fellowship position at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital. He is considered a leading figure in addiction pathologies. Watch the video below for a brief introduction into Dr. Fong’s expertise.

On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, the Jewish Home will be welcoming Dr. Fong as one of our guest speakers at the 14th annual Sarnat Symposium. His discussion, Pathological Gambling: Addressing the Hidden Addiction, will delve into the underlying issues behind senior gambling addiction and the ways to help victims of this debilitating condition.

If you would like to hear Dr. Timothy Fong speak at the Los Angeles Jewish Home’s 14th annual Sarnat Symposium, visit the Sarnat Symposium webpage and register today.

Labels: Addiction, Elderly, Gambling, Neuroscience, Pathology, Psychiatry, Sarnat Symposium, Seniors, Staff, Timothy Fong, UCLA

Have you been to one of the Jewish Home’s annual Sarnat Symposia? Over the last 13 years, the Jewish Home has amassed an impressive list of speakers on a vast array of topics. The 14th annual Sarnat Symposium is proving to be no exception.

One of our guest speakers in this year’s lineup is a USC professor named Victor Regnier. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Regnier holds a dual bachelor’s degree in engineering and architecture, as well as a master’s degree in the latter specialty.

Over the last few decades, Professor Regnier has become one of the foremost experts behind housing for seniors. He is the only person to hold a dual appointment to a school of architecture and a school of gerontology.

At this year’s Sarnat Symposium, Regnier will be giving his talk entitled Innovative Ideas for the Design of Housing for the Elderly from Asia, the US and Northern Europe. For those interested in the future of senior living, this is a rare opportunity for a sneak peak at the newest developments from one of the most respected minds in that field.

If you would like to hear Professor Victor Regnier speak at the Los Angeles Jewish Home’s 14th annual Sarnat Symposium on Wednesday, October 26, 2011, visit the Sarnat Symposium webpage and register today.

Labels: Architecture, Elderly, Gerontology, Innovation, Professor, Sarnat Symposium, Seniors, Speaker, USC, Victor Regnier

The Jewish Home and our upcoming centennial celebration are on the cover of this week's issue of the Jewish Journal!


The Journal's Ryan Smith wrote an incredible article chronicling the Los Angeles Jewish Home's growth and evolution, and it's impact on LA's Jewish community. Smith also reports how recent state and federal budget cuts influence the Jewish Home's plans to care for 5,000 seniors within the next five years.


We're absolutely delighted to receive this excellent coverage from such a respected publication. As the Jewish Home begins celebrating its 100th birthday, we'll continue moving forward — providing world class senior healthcare for another century.


Read the full article, Turning 100: Los Angeles Jewish Home has ambitious growth plans.

Labels: 100, Budget Cuts, Centennial, Cover Story, Elderly, History, Jewish Home Services, Jewish Journal, Los Angeles Jewish Home, Ryan Smith, Seniors, Staff

The other day, some of the nursing staff at our Eisenberg Village campus planned something really fun for our residents: they organized a luau!


The residents who participated live either at the Goldenberg•Ziman Special Care Center, which cares for seniors with Alzheimer's disease or age-related dementia, or the Max Factor Family Foundation Nursing Building, which provides skilled nursing to seniors who need extra assistance.

When the residents saw their nurses — who are normally in scrubs — enter in hula skirts, their eyes lit up! The entire room was laughing, clapping, and singing along.

In addition to being a fun, entertaining afternoon, events like these serve a profound therapeutic purpose. Happiness is known to have incredible life-lengthening health benefits; and the positive atmosphere, the music, and the dancing promotes both physical and cognitive strength.

Labels: Aging, Alzheimer's, Around the Home, Dementia, Eisenberg Village, Elderly, Factor, Goldenberg-Ziman, Healthy Aging, Hula, Luau, Nursing, Seniors, Skilled Nursing, Staff, Video, YouTube

Last month, Jeanna Bryner, Managing Editor of LiveScience, published a list of 5 reasons why aging is awesome. It was so good we wanted to share it with you.

Intro
The saggy, wrinkly view of aging may have a much more positive, and real, conterpart: Getting older has its perks, lots of them, from needing less sleep to having better sex. Here's a look at why the crowded candles on your birthday cake, as you enter middle age and beyond, are just plain awesome. (photo credit: stock.xchng)


More Awake Time
That's right, more time to enjoy life. Seniors need about 1.5 hours less sleep on average than their younger counterparts, according to one study.

In another study of 110 healthy adults who were allowed eight hours of bed time, the oldest group (ages 66 to 83) snoozed about 20 minutes less than the middle-agers (ages 40-55), who in turn slept about 23 minutes less than the youngest group (ages 20 to 30). The simplest explanation for the fewer shut-eye minutes: Older adults need less sleep.

Another explanation, and one supported by research: Older adults just can't get the sleep they need, taking longer to nod off, spending less time in deep sleep, and having more trouble staying asleep. In fact, more than half of men and women over the age of 65 say they suffer from at least one sleep problem, with many experiencing insomnia, according to WebMD. (photo credit: © Rozenn Leard | Dreamstime.com)


Wearing Rose-Colored Glasses
Being happy may come down to attitude, studies have shown. That's great news for older adults, whose brains seem to be wired to remember the good times. A brain-scanning study published in 2010 in the journal Cortex revealed that older adults' rose-colored glasses may be linked to the way the brain processes emotional contents.

The researchers scanned the brains of participants — young adults (ages 19-31) and older adults (ages 61-80) — as they viewed a series of photographs with positive and negative connections between the brain regions that process emotions and those known to be important to the successful formation of memories, particularly when processing positive information. The same strong connections weren't found for the younger participants.

Aging adults don't just recall blissful moments of the past in vivid colors. It's also becoming apparent to researchers that being old could lend itself to optimism. In one recent study, both old and young participants where shown virtual faces portraying sadness, anger, fear and happiness. Eye-tracking technology revealed the older participants, ages 18 to 21, focused on fearful faces, while those ages 57 to 84 zeroed in on the happy faces, avoiding the angry ones. The researchers, who detailed their study in 2006 in the journal Psychology and Aging, think that as a person's life expectancy decreases, they might focus on what makes them feel good now rather than focusing on the negative. (photo credit: Dreamstime)


Being Grandparents
No diapers. No temper tantrums. No fevers and ear infections. Aging means you get to enjoy grandkids, as if they were your own, but without any of the frustrations. Pop-pop and G'ma can do no wrong in the eyes of grandkids. Research has suggested grandparents can increase the chances of a child surviving during the high-risk period of infancy and childhood in traditional societies. The same link may hold true in Western societies, according to David A. Coall of Edith Cowan University. "We felt if such an association existed in Western societies, where the fertility and childhood mortality rates are much lower, grandparents could make a substantial public health contribution to our society," Coall said in a statement.

And you're good at it, too. A study published in the November 2008 issue of the journal Pediatrics, by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, showed that kids cared for by a grandmother were 50-percent less likely to get injured than children cared for by daycare workers, other relatives, or even the child's own mother. (photo credit: © Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com)


More Wisdom
Like a fine wine, older adults have been aged to perfection it seems, at least when it comes to wisdom. As you age, you may have a tougher time tuning out irrelevant information, but this lack of focus can actually boost memory, according to research published in 2010 in the journal Psychological Science. More specifically, seniors have the unique ability to "hyper-bind" the irrelevant information, essentially tying it to other information that is appearing at the same time. This type of memory could help older adults with decision-making and problem-solving, the researchers suspect. For instance, if a manager wants to promote an employee, it might be helpful to recall not just that employee's work performance, but also his interaction with other employees. (photo credit: © Denis Raev | Dreamstime.com)


Rewarding Sex Life
Sex drive seems to stay strong as you age. One 2007 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine surveyed adults ages 57 to 85, finding more than half of 75- to 85-year-olds reported a roll in the hay at least two to three times a month, and 23 percent reported having sex at least once a week. oral sex appeared to be less "ageless." nearly 60 percent of the participants under 65 years old said they had engaged in oral sex in the previous 12 months, compared with 31 percent for the over-75s. (photo credit: © Alexander Raths | Dreamstime.com)

What else do you think makes aging awesome? Leave a comment!

Labels: Aging, Cross Post, Elderly, For the Body, For the Mind, For the Spirit, Grandma, Grandpa, Grandparents, Healthy Aging, Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience, Optimism, Seniors, Sexuality, Sleep, Staff, Wisdom

Q. How does a charitable gift annuity work?
A. The Los Angeles Jewish Home pays you, or you and another person you select, a fixed amount for life, from a monetary or securities gift you give. What's left of your gift after the lifetimes of the people receiving payments helps support our mission to care for our nearly 1,000 residents.

Q. How are the payment amounts determined?
A. The annual rate of your payment is based on your age at the time of the gift. The older you are, the higher your gift annuity rate. Payment rates are locked in for the duration of the gift annuity.

Q. What are my tax benefits for making this type of donation?
A. You qualify for a sizable charitable income tax deduction in the year you set up the gift annuity. In addition, each year, a portion of your payment is income tax-free, until you reach your anticipated life expectancy. Plus, part of your payments may be taxed at a lower capital gains tax rate.

Get Payments When You Need Them
You can also set up a deferred gift annuity where you delay receiving payments until a later date — such as when you reach retirement. You'll get the income when you need it most, and the payout rate and your tax deduction will be significantly higher than that of an immediate payment gift annuity.

If you have questions about charitable gift annuities, please contact Aaron Levinson at (818) 757-4416 or aaron.levinson@jha.org.

Labels: Aaron Levinson, Annuity, Charitable Gift, Donate, Elderly, Fund Development, Life Income Plan, Non-Profit, Philanthropy, Planned Giving, Planning, Seniors, Staff, Why We Give

Have you ever felt a desire to help ensure that the important work of the Los Angeles Jewish Home continues for years to come? If you've silenced that inner voice because you have concerns about your own family's needs, a planned giving option called a life income gift may be your win-win solution.

Many of our donors choose a life income plan to find more flexibility — and often more tax benefits — than they can receive from simply writing a check.

Your Win-Win Solution
A life income arrangement lets you receive regular payments for yourself or others you choose — for example, your spouse, your aging parents, or a sibling — for a lifetime. After the lifetimes of those receiving payments, the remaining assets support our cause.

Other possible benefits of a life income arrangement include:

• Receiving a money-saving federal income tax deduction in the year you make the gift.
• Increasing your current income.
• Qualifying for generous estate and gift tax benefits.

Labels: Aaron Levinson, Charitable Gift, Donate, Elderly, Fund Development, Life Income Plan, Non-Profit, Philanthropy, Planned Giving, Planning, Seniors, Staff, Why We Give