The good news is that we are living longer.
The bad news is that health care is becoming a pressing issue.
Indeed, as many have suggested, health care is the greatest
crisis facing our economy and our culture. At the forefront of
that crisis is the question of how to take care of our aging
population.
Organizations like Jewish Family Services (JFS) are on that
forefront.
Take Catherine Collins. Collins reluctantly moved from her
hometown of Wilmington, Delaware to reunite with her family in
Columbus.
"My daughters said to me, 'All those years you told us what to
do. Now it's our turn to tell you what to do!'"
Like a growing number of families, Collins' loved ones were
faced with the question of home care or nursing home.
Thanks to JFS, Collins and many other seniors are able to
remain at home. Collins was immediately eligible for the
Passport Medicaid program that JFS professionals put her in
touch with. This program allows for a commuting counselor to
visit and comfort the individual without putting them into a
nursing home environment.
Obviously, many health problems face an older population. Yet
many of those problems, and perhaps the hardest ones to solve,
are those that are unseen. In addition to her visual
impairments, Collins faces psychological ailments including
depression, hypertension and pain.
Due to her age, surgical procedures were too much of a risk, so
JFS arranged for Collins to receive medical alternatives to mitigate the pain that are offered at a
nearby facility, Heritage Day Health Center.
Collins' JFS assigned counselor, Marilyn
Cole, helps Collins face these health issues. Through biweekly
visits to Collins' home, Cole encourages discussion and
reconciling disagreements within Collins' own family. Cole urges
Collins, who is not Jewish, to embrace her own faith to help get
her through day-to-day pains.
JFS has helped Collins meet many of her needs by putting her in touch with the appropriate resources, and most importantly by doing this,
has allowed her to continue to stay in a warm, familiar and comfortable environment, her home.
Story written by Columbus Torah Academy students, Jacob Warren
and Eric Katz
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