Senior Section 4.22.13

Celebrating Seniors

HAPPY, HEALThY LIVING

Supplement to Jewish News April 22, 2013

Dear Readers,

Published 22 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Aging. Given the alternative, it’s a fact of life!

And yes, as we age, life can become more challenging in some ways: dealing with aches and pains and physical hardships, trying to combat wrinkles, living on more limited incomes, and the inevitable loss of people we know. But none of that means we have to stop living full, productive and contented lives.

Just look around, there are great examples of senior citizens (Will someone please come up with a more upbeat term for ‘over 50’ ?!?) who are eking out every moment of their lives, whether they’re enjoying retirement, returning to the workforce, volunteering, going back to school, trying new sports, interacting with generations both younger and older, and even planning for their “futures.”

In this special section of the Jewish News, we highlight some of our Jewish community’s senior citizens who are doing a great job of embracing their “golden years.” We also explore positive ways to approach the aging of our loved ones (and ourselves): planning for long-term medical needs, staying healthy through diet and exercise, and suggestions for using finely honed skills to help and teach others.

As Jews, we respect and cherish our ‘seniors’, and in their honor we would like to offer up a huge, “L’chaim!”

Celebrating

Diane Schneider, a licensed hearing instrument specialist, will discuss the importance of having a hearing screening.

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Call Marian Manor today at 757-456-5018 to learn about our current leasing specials.

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34 | Jewish News | April 22, 2013 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org

Subscription: $18 year For subscription or change of address, call 757-965-6128 or email mcerase@ujft.org.

of Tidewater’s organized Jewish community

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75

Issue

SPRING 2013 This special magazine-style

assisted living

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The articles and letters appearing herein are not necessarily the opinion of this newspaper.

75 years

Commemorative Issue

Tuesday, April 23 • 3:00 PM

Terri Denison, Editor Germaine Clair, Art Director Laine Mednick Rutherford, Associate Editor Hal Sacks, Book Review Editor Sandy Goldberg, Account Executive Sharon Freeman, Account Executive Mark Hecht, Account Executive Marilyn Cerase, Subscription Manager Reba Karp, Editor Emeritus Alvin Wall, President Stephanie Calliott, Secretary Harry Graber, Executive Vice-President

© 2013 Jewish News. All rights reserved.

The staff of the Jewish News

Healthy Hearing for Life

Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Suite 200 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462-4370 voice 757.965.6100 • fax 757.965.6102 email news@ujft.org www.jewishVA.org

publication will highlight the past 25 years of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, take a look even further back to the beginning, and peek into the future.

Date

Deadline

Health Care

May 20

May 3

Legal

June 24

June 7

Mazel Tov

Sept. 30

Sept. 13

Home

Oct 28

Oct 11

Education

Dec 23

Dec 6

About the cover

The ‘Prime Time’ people on our cover with those Spring birds, have all been featured in past issue of Jewish News because of their activities, not their age!

Jewish senior camps retool to keep up with more active seniors—and the competition

by Debra Rubin

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Not many people attend summer camp with their parents.

Mindelle Pierce went with her mom when her mother was in her 90s.

They chose a two-week program for senior adults at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Conn.

Aside from typical camp activities such as swimming and arts and crafts, there were myriad specialty programming for senior adults: lectures on health and nutrition, genealogy, flowers of the Torah, and biblical prophets, as well as trips to area cultural activities, including the theater and the philharmonic.

Some 80 participants ranging in age from their 50s to 90s attended the camp.

Pierce, who is in her 60s and volunteers regularly at Isabella Freedman’s senior camps, says she was drawn to the program five years ago by the “natural beauty infused with the spirituality that I felt while I was there—and the fact the programming was exceptional.”

The Isabella Freedman program is among a number of senior camp programs across the United States, including a handful that are geared to Jews. Yet despite the growing population of American senior citizens, the number of senior camps has been dropping slightly, according to the American Camp Association, which has 225 senior camps as members.

That has made for a challenging environment for Jewish senior camps, too. In September, one such camp, the Block and Hexter Vacation Center in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, closed due to lack of demand. With more resorts available in exotic locales and seniors more active than they were a few decades ago, mountain camps have lost some of their cachet.

“The new senior is more active and discriminating in taste than the senior of prior generations,” says Elliot Forchheimer, assistant director of the New Jersey Y Camps, which runs the Kislak Adult Center offering

sightseeing itineraries to places such as Florida, the Poconos and Texas.

To help stem the tide, some camps have changed or are planning changes to their offerings in hope of attracting a new generation of older adults.

“With tweaks and changes, these programs should be able to thrive,” says Adam Weinstein, director of the Berkshire Hills Emanuel Camps-Adult Vacation Center in Copake, N.Y., which offers kosher food and Shabbat services.

“We’re looking at programs that will also bring in a younger crowd of seniors,” says Irene Drantch, director of the Circle Lodge Retreat in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., an 85-plus-year-old facility that is affiliated with Workmen’s Circle and draws anywhere from 25 people a week to a capacity participation of 135 for its Yiddish Week.

At Berkshire Hills, there are plans are to split the 10-week summer into two fiveweek programs. One session will be geared to those who have been coming for years and aren’t seeking changes, Weinstein says.

“There’s swimming, there’s lectures, there’s evening entertainment, there’s buttermilk in the afternoon,” Weinstein says, noting that some 600 campers came this past summer—about half for the full summer and the rest for one or two weeks.

Most were in their 70s and 80s.

The other session will be aimed at younger seniors.

“By splitting our summer between our traditional senior program and a program that is more like a Jewish version of Road Scholar, we are trying to make that transition” to younger seniors, Weinstein says, “while still serving the guests who have been our base.”

Pairing sightseeing with educational lectures is the raison d’etre for Road Scholar, formerly known as Elderhostel, which offers about a dozen Jewish programs that explore Jewish culture, history and religion. Jewish programming has been available since the organization was founded more than three decades ago, and Road Scholar works with an array of Jewish organizations, museums,

synagogues and educators, according to Stacie Fasola, its associate vice president of public and media relations.

Annabel and Hal Sacks of Tidewater fame, participated in a five-day Road Scholar program at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore last year. Annabel wrote about the experience in the Oct. 22, 2012 issue of Jewish News. They had a terrific time meeting new people, learning and exploring.

Read her article online at www.jewishnewsva.org/road-scholars/.

For Judy Oppenheim of Hampden, Conn., lectures are only part of what has drawn her and her husband, Jerry, both 73, to Isabella Freedman for the past seven years. They’re also taken with the physical setting, the diverse programming, sitting and chatting with Holocaust survivors as well as youngsters in the facility’s children’s

camp and the many friends they have made over the years.

“I like being back at camp as an adult,” Oppenheim says. “I always liked it as a kid, and now I look forward to it as an adult.”

For Inge Hershkowitz of the Bronx, N.Y., two weeks at Berkshire Hills last summer was a homecoming of sorts. Back in the 1950s, she and her three sons spent about six summers at what then was a family resort typical of the many bungalow colonies in the area, with her husband joining them on weekends.

This year, she particularly enjoyed the lectures on Jewish humor and outings that included seeing Academy and Tony Awardwinner Olympia Dukakis onstage in “The Tempest.”

“I really, really like it,” Hershkowitz, 88, says of the camp. “I already made reservations for next summer.”

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jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | April 22, 2013 | Jewish News | 35

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JFS: Caring for Seniors for Over 65 Years

Jewish Family Service of Tidewater has been caring for seniors in the community for over 65 years. We thank our nursing staff, case managers and all other staff for the care they provide to seniors. To learn about the many services JFS offers, please call us at 321-2222.

You never know when you’ll need help, but you’ll always know where to find it.

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260 Grayson Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23462 ~ www.jfshamptonroads.org 36 | Jewish News | April 22, 2013 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org

JCC brightens the lives of seniors Bernie Erlich and Andrea Finder Zarge

F

by Leslie Shroyer

rom Mahjong to Senior Club to fitness, long days at the Simon Family JCC are the norm for Bernie Erlich and Andrea Finder Zarge.

A New York native, Erlich moved to Tidewater less than 10 years ago with his wife Rhoda to be near his daughter Amy Lefcoe, her husband Kevin, and their children. Erlich raves about Tidewater in general and the JCC in particular. “This whole area is a gem, and a great place to live,” he says. “And the JCC is a blessing. I am thrilled about coming to the JCC every day I walk through the doors.”

Erlich goes to the JCC on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays, he visits the fitness center for the elliptical machines and a few light weights. On Thursdays after the gym, he stays for a current events club with about a dozen other seniors. “I look forward to our heated political debates,” he jokes.

“It’s truly all in friendship and fun.” After he eats lunch around noon, Erlich plays a regular Thursday game of Rummikub, which can last several hours.

As historian for the JCC Seniors Club, he attends a monthly meeting with about 30 other active members. Trips and entertainment are planned, ailing members are mentioned so that the club can reach out to them, and decisions about how and where dues should be spent are made. The club is currently planning its annual party on May 22, a luncheon at the JCC with a Luau theme.

Erlich also recently joined the Yiddish Club at the JCC. Open to all ages, this group meets the last Thursday of each month.

Members discuss Yiddish words and phrases and their origins, and most are accompanied by personal stories and memories.

Andrea Finder Zarge grew up in Norfolk, spending many hours of her youth at the JCC on Spotswood Ave. She moved to Delaware after attending Old Dominion

Andrea Finder Zarge

Bernie Erlich

University, and recently returned after more than 30 years to be closer to her aging mother. Actively taking classes all over the area from glass blowing to origami, she goes to the JCC for fitness classes and Mahjong.

“I don’t love to work out, but I’m social, and I know it’s good for me,” she says. “The JCC gives me a place to work out, where I have made some very close friends.”

Zarge diligently attends a Monday, Wednesday and Friday water aerobics class. On Mondays, she stays for a beginner Mahjong class which can last until 4 pm.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Zarge takes a Silver Sneakers cardio class in the JCC fitness center. “I come back every day because of the wonderful people I’ve met here,” she says.

“I can’t be thankful enough for this JCC,” says Erlich. “I appreciate its being here immensely.”

It’s never too late to begin healthy habits

B

by Amy Cobb, JFS marketing and fundraising assistant

y now, most people have not only given up on their New Year’s resolutions, they’ve also forgotten what they were in the first place. Still, the registered nurses from Jewish Family Service’s Home Health team advise that’s it’s never too late to begin improving your health. Adults, especially those over the age of 65, can greatly benefit from making healthy changes – especially those that help prevent illness and injury.

Here are the nurses’ favorite tips to keep you feeling young and vibrant. Ready, set...go!

Get moving, but don’t overdo it!

Susan Riggs, RN, says, “I started a walking program last summer and went at it full-force. Next thing I knew, I had hurt my knee and I couldn’t exercise for a while. Lesson learned: Ease your way into exercising if you haven’t done it in a while.”

Just do it!

Exercise doesn’t have to be exhausting, and it certainly doesn’t have to be so strenuous that it feels like work. Loydett Anderson, RN, finds that it can be something as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. In fact, she takes the stairs every opportunity she gets. “It’s all about self-motivation,” she says. “You just have to get moving. I recommend walking briskly for at least 15 minutes every day.”

Older adults are increasingly looking to classes such as yoga and tai chi to not only increase physical health, but to meet people and widen their social circles. Other activities, like local walking clubs, can be found at many senior organizations and community centers.

Balance is key!

Sondra Pietrzak, RN, recommends a balanced diet for older adults. “Eating a healthy diet can help keep your body strong and can help lower your risk for disease,” says Pietrzak. “But as you get older, it can be harder to eat in healthy ways. If you have health problems or can’t be active, you may not feel as hungry as you used to. You may not plan and make meals as often. If you have trouble preparing meals for yourself, consider the JFS Meals on Wheels program. Contact them at 757-321-2227. She also encourages older adults to have regular check-ups.

Manage pain with exercise Gale Garner, RN, BSN, MA, knows from experience how it feels to be in pain.

For the past 20 years, she has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and that’s why she goes swimming every day. “My doctor suggested that I keep moving in water. I get up every morning at 5:00 to go swimming, and believe me, it helps,” says Garner. “It’s important to keep moving.” As a mental health nurse, she says this not only helps lessen pain, but it also helps lessen depression.

Make sure your home is safe Linda Levy, RN, often sees patients who have fallen in their home. “Most falls in the home can be prevented with just a few preventative measures,” says Levy. She suggests removing scatter rugs and securing larger rugs with non-skid tape. Also remove any clutter and cords on the floor. Make sure the home is well-lit and install hand rails on stairways if necessary. And lastly, install an electronic emergency response system.

Smooth(ie) Operator!

Lucy Cardon, RN, loves smoothies. “The best way to get nutrition is from food,” says Cardon, “and by consuming a healthful smoothie every day you are getting most of your nutrition in one proven delicious dosage.”

Consuming raw fruits and vegetables in a smoothie every day will also give you plenty of natural fiber to ensure excellent digestion and help empower your immune system to protect you from illness.

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

Your skin is the largest organ in the body, so it’s very important to keep it hydrated. Linda Badgley, RN, says, “Many older adults tend to have dry, itchy skin. Because older people have thinner skin, scratching can cause bleeding that may lead to infection.” The best ways to keep your skin hydrated? Drink lots of water and apply moisturizing lotion generously every day.

Badgley also recommends that older adults eat more protein. A lack of protein can increase your risk for injury during exercise and it is particularly important when you have a wound that is healing. Your body uses the amino acids from protein-rich foods to maintain and rebuild your body’s cells. Lean meats, eggs and dairy products are excellent protein sources; good vegetarian options include nuts and seeds, soy products and wholegrain foods. Most women need about 46 grams of protein per day, while most men need about 56 grams per day.

JFS Home Healthcare provides private duty and skilled nursing care.

For more information, call 757-489-3111 or visit www.jfshamptonroads.org. jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | April 22, 2013 | Jewish News | 37

Senior finds herself right at home at Ronald MacDonald

by Laine M. Rutherford Photo by Laine M. Rutherford

O

n the large tidy desk in the office area of the Ronald McDonald House in Norfolk, sits a brass nameplate identifying the bright eyed, cheery woman who greets guests as they enter the building: Bess Finder. Head Volunteer.

“They gave this to me for my 90th birthday,” says Finder, holding the nameplate in front of her. “It’s not official, of course, but I do like it.”

Finder is a consistent presence at the 17-bedroom, three-story residence on Colley Ave. Every Monday she arrives to volunteer in the office just to the left of the front door, or in whatever capacity the administrators there need.

“I answer the phone, answer the door.

I show people around, take them to their rooms and answer any questions they may have,” Finders says. “Not a lot really.”

While Finder is modest about her duties, the administrators of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Norfolk are effusive in their praise of her, which is why they were prompted to present her the nameplate.

“Bess is an ambassador of goodwill,” says Elyse Brown, the home’s executive director. “She is a very special person, who makes other people feel special as soon as they come in the door, and she’s a familiar face to the families that stay here and to the members of our board.”

House manager Vickie Kennedy says she and Brown can rely on Finder on any day of the week, not just on the scheduled Monday volunteer time.

“She’ll come in any time we need her, and will fill in when Elyse or I take time off or can’t be here,” says Kennedy. “She’s also an ambassador for us at her apartment building, getting other people where she lives to volunteer here, too.”

“And, she’s our nurse, too,” Brown adds.

“We’re a good team.”

Finder lives steps away, in an apartment complex next door and has been 38 | Jewish News | April 22, 2013 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org

Bess Finder.

volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House for 12 years.

“One day, I came over to see if they needed help, and I’ve been here ever since,” she says.

The great-grandmother of four is happy to have a place she can put her energies. For 50 years, Finder worked as a private-duty nurse, and before that was a nurse in the U.S. Army.

A gifted storyteller, Finder tells how she met her husband, Ted, a native Austrian who survived the Holocaust by escaping from a concentration camp and who went on to become a decorated U.S. Army war hero. The two moved to Norfolk in 1955 and she has lived here ever since, raising three children and caring for her husband and others. After a full life that he called miraculous, Ted passed away in 2000. (His story is chronicled in the UJFT Holocaust Commission book: To Life.)

“Ted actually was my first patient as a nurse in the Army,” Finder says. “I was told to do a few things—we didn’t do that much back then, really, so I walked up to Ted’s bed, shook him to wake him up and told him I needed to take his temperature. He told me that was no way to wake a soldier. He said a soldier should always be woken up with a kiss!”

Finder laughs as she remembers her

husband and can regale guests with these stories and more, providing a welcome respite for families dealing with ill children.

Norfolk’s Ronald McDonald House was established to be a home away from home for families wanting to be near their child, 21 years old or younger, who is receiving medical care or treatment at an area facility.

Families can stay as long as their children are receiving help in establishments such as the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, both within walking distance, as well as The Pines, St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children and the Barry Robinson Center.

There is no cost to families; the home is stocked with typical household goods, whether in the kitchen cupboards, the library or the laundry room, all received through donations. The operating budget is supported by the area’s owner/operated McDonald’s restaurants.

“This is a wonderful place for people in dire need of comfort,” Finder says. “If you can’t be at home and your child is sick, it’s

nice to be able to not have to worry about where you’re going to sleep, what you’re going to eat or feed your other children, and not think about how you’re going to pay for it all.”

Finder is no stranger to helping others or volunteering. From a young age, she saw—and helped—her mother do what she could to improve the life of others.

“My mother used to get up at five in the morning to collect money for B’nai Brith or Hadassah, and she would bring people to the house who had nowhere else to go,” Finder says. “We always shared what little we had with others. I grew up with it. It’s part of living for me.”

On days when Finder is not at the Ronald McDonald House the nameplate is still on the desk, a sight that makes Brown, Kennedy and Finder comfortable and happy.

“I have friends that envy me because I have a place to go,” says Finder. “I feel I’ve been blessed by a lot of good health, and, so, as long as I can, and as long as they let me, I’ll keep on coming over.”

AT WeSTMInSTeR-CAnTeRBuRY

We ARe fOReVeR On The MOVe!

Concerts, shows and lifelong learning. Domestic and international travel. This year residents are headed to Machu Picchu. Many serve on Boards, run businesses and volunteer. In fact, last year alone our community members contributed over 16,000 volunteer hours.

Of course, when you live on the beach, it’s also fun to come home.

To learn more, please call 496-1785 and RSVP for one of our upcoming events or schedule a private visit and tour. You’ll learn why our residents live more and worry less. join us for lunch on: Wednesday, May 15th at 11 a.m.

Tuesday, june 11th at 11 a.m. or for coffee with friends on: Tuesday, May 28th at 3 p.m.

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jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | April 22, 2013 | Jewish News | 39

Sherrill Hurwitz’ retirement takes a leap into literacy

by Laine M. Rutherford

A

Sherrill Hurwitz

fter 30 years employed as a child protective service social worker and a counselor in Norfolk Public Schools, Sherrill Hurwitz earned some downtime when she retired five years ago.

She didn’t take it.

Instead, Hurwitz, a longtime, former Sunday School teacher at Ohef Sholom Temple and a current member of Congregation Beth El, jumped into a project that puts books into the hands of children.

And not just any children, but children who visit—for whatever reason—the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

“Through my work with the Norfolk Department of Social Services, I knew

a lot of judges. They were very upset because they were seeing so many kids in their courts who couldn’t read, or could only read at a sixth grade level—at best,” Hurwitz, 62, says.

Hurwitz was approached by Judge Jerrauld Jones, a juvenile court judge, who asked if she could help with a reading program, at the time under the auspices of the former Friends of the Court group.

Knowing, through her professional experience, that there was a need to help children read, Hurwitz started the Leap into Literacy program. Her goal is to give every child a book to inspire a love of reading and learning. Both, she says, are vitally important.

Almost every morning Hurwitz can be found in the Juvenile Court building, either

in the waiting area outside the courtroom or in the courtroom itself. She hands out books, reads to children, and dispenses advice to parents, to their children and to young people facing detention or jail time.

“Sometimes there are parents who have to bring their children to court with them because they don’t have a babysitter.

Sometimes, children are there who are in trouble themselves,” Hurwitz says. “Either they’re waiting for hours for their cases to be heard, or they’re being disruptive, or the judge wants them removed because of what’s being discussed. That’s when I’ll put a book in their hands and say, ‘This is for you.’”

After five years of volunteering, Hurwitz is still passionate about the program.

“You never know who this helps. People will come up to me saying they remember

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40 | Jewish News | April 22, 2013 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org

4/2/13 5:38 PM

me because I gave them a book when they were little, and there are even kids I’ve worked with in the past—who have since done terrible crimes—who people will tell me ask about me, and say ‘they want you to bring them a book.’”

Leap into Literacy is an entirely volunteer operation that right now is a one-woman operation. Other than an office provided at the courthouse, Hurwitz asks for, collects, and distributes books without monetary compensation. In the future, she says she may seek to qualify as a tax-deductible organization, but the effort seems overwhelming, so, for now, she relies on the kindness of community donations.

“My number one donor is Blessed Sacrament Church in Norfolk. The reverend there asks for books for me every Sunday Mass, and every few months ladies from the church bring them to me,” Hurwitz says.

“It would be good if the Jewish community would help, too. If they look in their closets, I’m sure they would find a lot of

books that a child would like to have—I know, I’ve met children who have never owned their own book in their life. And then I put one in their hands and tell them it’s theirs to keep. You should hear them yell after that, ‘Mom, mom. I’ve got my own library!’”

Hurwitz thinks every child should own a copy of Goodnight Moon and The Little Engine that Could, and, like that last book, she keeps moving forward, pushing to meet that goal.

While Hurwitz provides books, magazines and other reading material for children of all ages (and adults in the waiting room as well), she is primarily looking for books on a third grade reading level or below.

They don’t have to be new, she says, gently used are welcome, too.

To donate books or find out more about Leap into Literacy, contact Sherrill Hurwitz at 757-664-7628.

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HAT and BSV = Mitzvah Club Beth Sholom Village and Hebrew Academy of Tidewater have joined forces to create “The Mitzvah Club.”

A

Carin Simon, admissions director for HAT and Marcia Brodie, director of marketing for BSV, discussed ways to encourage this generation of children to honor, respect and bring a little joy to the Jewish elderly. Beth Sholom Village seemed the perfect venue.

It appears that the more often children realize the importance of performing a mitzvah for the aged, or anyone for that matter, the better adults they become.

The goal is to have “The Mitzvah Club” once a quarter. After the first visit, it was decided to have a much more structured Francis Smithe has fun with a HAT student. two-hour visit. The club always starts with snacks for the kids and then breaks into age appropriate groups. Some kids will play board games with the residents, some will sing, while some will have one on one visits.

The residents light up when they see the children arrive. It truly is a mitzvah.

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jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | April 22, 2013 | Jewish News | 41

Long-Term Care Planning Ahead by Getting Past the Myths

by Sally B. Kocen, CLTC

M

any of us may have had to face a long-term care situation, most often as caregivers for an elderly family member who may no longer be able to live independently. If you have experienced long-term care first-hand, you know how difficult it can be from a physical, emotional, and financial point of view. But if you’re like most people, you may not have a plan in place for your own possible long-term care needs.

This lack of planning isn’t really surprising. When you’re busy building your career and raising a family, it’s hard to imagine a time when you may need help with some of the most basic activities of daily living, like eating or bathing. As a result, it’s easy to deny the possibility that you may need long-term care at some point in your life.

Unfortunately, accidents or illnesses can strike at any age. In fact, 41% of Americans who need long-term care are under the age of 65. (Urban Institute analysis of US Census Bureau’s National Health Interview survey, 2009 and American Community survey, 2010.) And, 70% of people who

reach age 65 will require some period of ongoing assistance or supervision, due to physical or cognitive impairment. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information, accessed September 25, 2009.)

Unfortunately, long-term care doesn’t come cheap and costs will continue to rise.

According to the John Hancock 2011 Cost of Care Survey, the national average cost of a nursing home is now about $235 a day or $85,775 a year, for a private room.

And, depending on where you live, costs could be higher. Home health care is less expensive but can still present a financial

challenge, with a national average cost of about $31,200 per year, for six hours of care, five days a week. If you don’t need care for another 20 to 30 years, you can expect to pay significantly more, particularly if you need care for a number of years.

Not many people are able to assume these costs without a significant impact to their lifestyle or savings.

That’s why it’s so important to have a plan in place. The first step in creating a practical plan is to get past some common myths surrounding long-term care, and to familiarize yourself with the facts—especially when it comes to paying for care.

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Stay in our home and we’ll make it yours • www.commonwealthal.com 42 | Jewish News | April 22, 2013 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org

Myth #1 “The government will take care of me.”

The most common myth is that the government will pay your bills, but Medicare and Medicaid are not resources you can necessarily depend on when it comes to funding long-term care expenses. Medicare is only for people over age 65 and is not intended to cover debilitating disorders that may result in the need for true long-term care beyond 100 days. Medicaid does provide long-term care benefits, but you may have to spend down your savings and assets considerably in order to be eligible, which may make it an unattractive option if you have a healthy spouse or wish to leave a legacy for your loved ones. And then of course, there is the future of these programs to consider, in light of the ballooning federal deficit.

Myth #2 “I’m already covered” Myth number two is that long-term care expenses are covered by your employer’s medical or disability benefits. That simply

isn’t the case. Medical benefits are designed to pay for acute medical conditions that you will recover from, like a broken leg or pneumonia. Your disability insurance is meant to replace the income you lose when you can’t work due to illness or accident, without anything extra designated to pay for your care needs.

Myth #3 “My children will take care of me.”

Myth number three is that you don’t have to worry about long-term care costs, because your children will take care of you. This might have been a reasonable assumption years ago, but nowadays your children may live too far away to be able to help or they may have work and child-rearing responsibilities. Loved ones who are willing to assume responsibility for your care, may find that it has a huge impact on their lives and you may not wish to place this kind of burden on them.

Planning Ahead is Easy The good news in all of this is that a longterm care event can be very manageable if you plan ahead. To get started, you may wish to consider the purchase of long-term care (LTC) insurance. The coverage is designed to pay for care in a variety of settings, from your own home to a nursing home setting.

The premiums for the coverage are far less than the amount you would have to pay for your care, should you ever need it.

Many people start considering this insurance coverage in their late forties and early fifties. This is a good idea for a couple of reasons. First, you must be in good health to be accepted for coverage. If you wait to apply and your health changes you may not be able to purchase a policy. Second, LTC premiums are based on your age when you buy the insurance, so the younger you are, the lower your premiums.

To find the LTC insurance coverage that’s right for you, contact an insurance

agent or financial planner. As you start comparing policies, be sure to ask questions about the carrier. Since you may not need the coverage for many years, you want to be sure that the carrier is well-established, with at least 10 years of experience with LTC insurance, as well as financially stable.

Once you have a policy in place, if you ever need care, you will be able to help protect your assets, maintain your independence, and receive the kind of care you deserve.

RESOURCES To find out the cost of long-term care in your area, visit the interactive Cost of Care map at www.johnhancockltc.com.

The information provided above is the opinion of the author and does not represent the opinions of the insurance companies whose products he/she markets.

The long-term care insurance policy describes coverages under the policy, exclusions and limitations, what you must do to keep your policy in force, and what would cause your policy to be discontinued.

The Rose Frances and Bernard Glasser

HEALTH

AND

W ELLNESS C ENTER

at Beth Sholom Village

The mission of The Rose Frances & Bernard Glasser Health & Wellness Center is to promote a safe and healthy lifestyle for all residents, employees and the public at large.

Services available: Call for an appointment today!

Phone: 757.961.3055 Fax: 757.961.3047 6401 Auburn Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23464

· · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

History & Physicals Blood Pressure/Weight Checks Immunizations Joint Injections Coumadin Checks Ear Cleaning EKGs Routine or Acute Lab Work Treatment of Chronic Illness Treatment of Acute Illness Evaluation of Injuries Wound Care Assistance with Medication Management In-Office Diagnostics (i.e. X-rays, Ultrasounds)

We offer services Monday through Friday 8:30am-4:30pm.

Same-day appointments available in most cases.

Lara Nance, MSN, ANP Veronica Dirks, LPN The Center is staffed by Nurse Practitioner, Lara Nance MSN, ANP and a consulting physician at EVMS.

jewishnewsva.org | Senior Living | April 22, 2013 | Jewish News | 43

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44 | Jewish News | April 22, 2013 | Senior Living | jewishnewsva.org

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