Around The Community Managing Transitions Late in Life: A Special Symposium for Providers & Caregivers at Margaret Tietz
THE JEWISH HOME
NOVEMBER 27, 2014
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Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld
Barbara Gluckin
Jane Bardavid
Yoel Lichstein
In an environment teeming with eagerness and expectation, over 100 professionals and caregivers convened on November 5th at the Special Symposium “Managing Transitions Late in Life” presented by Margaret Tietz Center in conjunction with Samuel Field Y, Queensboro Council for Social Welfare and PsychAssociates Group. With opening remarks by Yoel Lichstein, MPA, LNHA Executive Director at Margaret Tietz, the Symposium addressed the Impact of Care Facility Placement on the Family, as well
as Understanding Cultural and Spiritual Needs, among other topics. Dr. Gary J. Kennedy, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Director, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and The Leslie and Roslyn Goldstein Geriatric Fellowship Training Program, Montefiore Medical Center, spoke of the importance of having the discussions now with your family members when you are well, before any crisis occurs, about end-of-life care issues and both your desires and your
loved one’s wishes. Dr. Barbara Gluckin, PsyD, Supervising Psychologist at PsychAssociates Group, addressed what it means to the resident and their families to transition to long term care, the need to understand their losses, and the impact of all the changes, such as moving from having all their possessions in an entire house to one small room with one dresser and one closet. Jane C. Bardavid, LCSW, Former Director of the Community Advisory Program for Elderly (CAPE) at Samuel Field YM & YWHA, echoed Dr. Kennedy’s sentiments and reflected personally on her experience and how it’s easier to go through the dying process and end-of-life decisions when one is informed about available choices and knows what the family member would choose. Dr. Jeanne Devine Director of Clinical Training at PsychAssociates Group enlightened the attendants on the im-
portance of being culturally sensitive to end-of-life decisions considering that there can be so many different sentiments, attitudes and decisions to make depending on one’s cultural and religious background, and all of them taking place all at once! After a lively question and answer session, Joan Serrano Laufer, LMSW, Executive Director of the Queensboro Council on Social Welfare, delivered the closing remarks to this most informative and well-received Symposium for professionals, caregivers, rabbis and community members. Caregivers and the community at large can access the information presented at the Symposium, look at the pictures, and watch the video of this most successful event via our website, www.tietzjewish.com. QPTV was present and also recorded the Symposium and will be airing it in the near future on their local stations.
DRS Spends Month Connecting to Medinat Yisroel The past few months have certainly been challenging ones for our brothers and sisters living in Eretz Yisroel. Of course, in America, our thoughts and prayers are constantly focused on those living there. It is often difficult, however, to feel the sense of pain and danger facing our relatives abroad. To that end, the DRS Yeshiva High School has been running programs all month to help its students become sensitive to the situation in Israel with various programs. Last Thursday, DRS students had the tremendous privilege of welcome Mr. Uri Yifrach in their Beis Medrash. Mr. Yifrach is the father of Eyal Yifrach H”yd, one of the three teenagers who were kidnapped and murdered this past summer. Mr. Yifrach, a true man of faith and emunah, related some of his feelings that he experienced throughout those terrible 18 days during which the entire Klal Yisroel was waiting with baited breath to hear about the status of Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali. Mr. Yifrach
spoke of the incredible nechama that he and his family received by witnessing the tremendous sense of achdut that was displayed by Jews all over the globe. On Friday, Rabbi Moshe Taragin, Ram at Yeshivat Har Etzion, shared a video made by close friends of the three boys, relating their feelings and experiences of this past summer. Next week, a delegation of 12 IDF soldiers will visit the school to share their personal stories of faith and strength from this past summer’s war. Finally, on December 25th, at the school’s annual Father-Son Learning Program, fathers and sons will view the critically acclaimed documentary, “Beneath the Helmet,” a coming-of-age story following the lives of five Israeli soldiers from high school to the frontlines. May our continued commitment to our friends and relatives in Israel help bring a speedy end to this situation.
Join Pugatch Realty Corp. in Bringing Holiday Joy to Children Less Fortunate Donate a new, unwrapped toy or toys to Toys For Tots, a program sponsored through the United States Marine Corp. The “Drop off” toy box is located in the Pugatch Realty Corp office at 950 Broadway in Woodmere. We would really appreciate all our friends, clients and community members participating in this charitable program to make a needy child smile especially during the holiday season. Thanking you in advance for your kindness and generosity. Happy holidays to everyone. For more information, contact Phyllis Greenberg & Carol Braunstein: 516398-3051 and at 516-592-2206.