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“[My care manager] is my guardian angel,” a Jewish Family Service client told us. Jewish Family Service provides a wide range of high-quality care to older adults.
Submitted by Jewish Family Service
“Instead of seeing the problem first, we see the human being first,” says Jewish Family Service CEO Liz Vogel. That respect is the baseline for Jewish Family Service (JFS), and this approach is evident in the expert and varied support that JFS offers Cincinnatians, from teens to seniors.
Older adults in our community are a diverse and growing group with a wide range of needs, says JFS’s Chief Services Officer, gerontologist Ann Sutton Burke. The organization strives to anticipate and meet these needs.
Increased Stresses, Increased Needs
“Between COVID and this difficult time after October 7, older adults in our community have had increased stresses and increased needs,” says Burke. “I am proud to say our team has risen to these occasions with skill and care.”
Our team supports older adults through care management, counseling, therapeutic group programming, home care and through community creation like the Center for Holocaust Survivors, the Russian Jewish Cultural Center and K’vod Connect. A part of JFS that reaches out proactively to isolated older adults, K’vod Connect has grown in leaps and bounds, exceeding expectations.
Fighting Social Isolation with Connection
Social isolation of older adults is a deep and worsening problem. In 2023, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory on the dangers of loneliness, which is associated with greater risk of dementia, premature death and more. For older adults, social isolation raises the risk of developing dementia by 50%.
K’vod Connect is our response. The program has grown immensely, with 785 participants since its beginning in 2021, and five volunteers currently. “K’vod met a need that was bottled up and immense,” says Burke.
K’vod Connect Senior Rabbi Yair Walton offered a glimpse of how powerful the program is. “We were just at lunch with the volunteers,” he said. “I asked what they liked about their new work, and one volunteer said, ‘The pay is great.’ I looked over at him to be sure it was a joke, but then he doubled down — serious — saying: ‘I get way more out of this than I give.’ And all the other volunteers agreed with him.”
Making a Place for Those with Memory Challenges
In addition to the need for connection, we have responded to the need for programs that enhance the quality of life for older adults impacted by memory challenges. Our new, one-year-old Adult Day Services does just that, and it has already achieved early success. The program was selected for a grant of $147,206 from the Alzheimer’s Association Center for Dementia Respite Innovation, making it one of only 21 recipients nationwide, and the sole agency in Ohio to receive this funding. A husband and caregiver, Chuck Albers, thanked Adult Day Services for helping his wife: “During her time here, her mood and attitude has been much better…. [that] stability, for me, seems like a win.”
In addition to K’vod Connect and Adult Day Services, we also provide many access points to care, and care itself:
Navigating the Maze of Care
Jewish Family Service helps those who don’t know where to start navigate the maze of care. Through our program, AgeWell Cincinnati, experts guide callers, for free, to the many community resources for older adults that enable healthier, more enjoyable lives. Another navigation technique is care management; this service comes into play when a client needs care, but the complex system of disconnected care options is baffling. Expert JFS care managers focus on the unique needs of individuals as they provide information, guidance, and referrals to clients and families at a time of frequent uncertainty.
Providing Direct Care
We also provide direct care for older adults. Our licensed, experienced, and culturally knowledgeable experts provide counseling. JFS also leads therapeutic group programming. And we offer various levels of home care to help seniors remain independent and dignified in their own homes.
Caregiver support at all levels is also available to help family members take care of their own needs and stay healthy while supporting a loved one who needs a high level of care, including adult children who no longer live in Cincinnati and need to help their parents from a distance.
And finally, Jewish Family Service is also our community’s central address for community building and care for Holocaust survivors and older adults who immigrated to Cincinnati from the former Soviet Union, through our Center for Holocaust Survivors and the Russian Jewish Cultural Center. Each of these programs, again, puts the human being first, with trauma-informed care and culturally respectful approaches.
“Caring for, supporting and encouraging older adults to thrive is what we love to do,” says Burke.
