Los Angeles Jewish Home

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

Far too often, seniors in need of care confine themselves to their homes—too frail to venture out, and too proud to ask for assistance. Often, finding reliable resources on services for seniors can be difficult. And, while senior care communities have become vibrant places of health and activity, decades-old images of what senior homes used to be make some seniors and their adult children reticent to seek the help they need. Luckily, newspapers are beginning to communicate that, when it comes to senior care, there are a variety of choices. And each option balances the individual’s level of independence and medical needs.

On Monday, the Los Angeles Times’ Bob Young published a story detailing care options for seniors, featuring expert advice and insight from the Jewish Home’s very own Molly Forrest.

From better healthcare access to increased activity and social interaction, seniors who take advantage of the care options best suited to their needs tend to live longer, happier, healthier lives. And, with variety of services ranging from in-home assistance to skilled nursing (and everything in between), seniors often attain an increased level of independence and higher quality of life.

Read the full LA Times article here. And if you know a senior who could benefit from senior care services, check out our community education resources.

Labels: Adult Children, Aging, Bob Young, Cross Post, Healthy Aging, Los Angeles Times, Molly Forrest, Resources, Senior Care, Senior Resources, Seniors, Staff

Cross posted from the Los Angeles Times.


By Karen Voight


When your core is strong, daily activities become easier and you'll get more from your exercise routines as well. Remember to incorporate this straightforward yet challenging move for a more balanced practice.

Begin on your hands and knees. Turn to the side and position your right hand directly below your right shoulder and your right knee below your right hip. Straighten your left leg with your left foot flat on the floor, toes and knee facing forward. Reach up with your left arm so it is above your shoulders. Engage your abdominals and move your tailbone in toward your body to avoid over-arching your lower back. Look up to the ceiling and pause.

Keeping your hips and shoulders stacked, push through your left heel and lift it to hip level. Concentrate on maintaining your balance with minimal movement in your torso. Hold this position for three to six breaths. Then lower your leg, come to all fours and repeat on the other side.

Voight is the creator of a line of fitness DVDs, including "Full Body Stretch" and "Ballet BodySculpt."


Read the original article.

Labels: Activities, Balance, Cross Post, Fitness, For the Body, Los Angeles Times, Staff, Voight