HOMECARE FOR SENIORS

Many elderly individuals in the Greater Coney Island community have become homebound due to the frailties that often accompany advanced age. While they are eligible to receive Medicare, their income level does not entitle them to free professional assistance in the home. That’s where the Jewish Community Council steps in. The Council’s Homecare Program currently provides a total of twenty-two homecare aides who offer assistance to 600 homebound senior citizens. The aides visit their clients once every week or two, offering services that range from light housekeeping to escorts for personal trips such as doctors’ appointments and shopping. When not visiting, the aides regularly call their elderly clients to provide valuable “telephone reassurance” that helps the homebound person feel more secure and connected to the outside world. Moreover, each home aide performs an initial assessment of their new client, coordinating their perspective of the client’s current health situation with medical information provided by the senior’s physician. This helps the aides become attuned to their client’s health concerns so they can make appropriate recommendations in the event of a change in the client’s condition.

The value of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island’s Homecare Program cannot be overestimated. “Our elderly clients would probably not make it without us,” explains Esther Mittelman, who has been the program’s devoted Director for over five years. “The aides pay such close attention to their well being. In fact, we’re usually the first ones that a client calls when there’s a health emergency.” Emphasizing the strong relationship that often develops, Mittelman notes that some aides have been taking care of their clients for over a decade.

The Homecare Program is Funded by:

• the Claims Conference, ICHEIC, NYC
• Department for the Aging,
• Department of Youth & Community Development,
• and a number of private foundations