Family service pioneers program to assist seniors who strive to 'age in place'
Jill Gartenberg Jaclin, center, greets Roz Denard, left, and Harriet Bogdanoff
during the May 2 launch at Mountain Lakes House. Photos by Marilyn Silverstein
Sidebar: Secure at home
The Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Mercer County has launched a pilot program to provide the health-care and support services that will allow seniors to "age in place" in their own homes.
Secure@Home is the first such initiative in New Jersey and among the first in the nation, according to program director Jill Gartenberg Jaclin.
The agency initiated the program this month in a pilot effort involving Community Without Walls, a nonprofit corporation founded in 1992 by four Princeton residents. CWW is designed to provide the social network, information, and educational services that can assist individuals and couples as they age in their own communities.
Now, as CWW's more than 400 members are entering their 70s and 80s, the nonsectarian group has turned to JFCS to provide the health-care services that will continue to make that possible, Jaclin said.
"We are giving them peace of mind and security, knowing we are there for them should something arise," she said as she stood on the porch of the Mountain Lakes House in Princeton on May 2. As she spoke, some 110 members of CWW were arriving for a dinnertime reception to launch membership in Secure@Home.
"Community Without Walls is a very good social network, and we are really providing the health-care piece to help them continue to age in their communities," Jaclin said. "Either we are providing services or we are providing access to services."
Among those services will be a geriatric care manager's complete assessment of the member's physical, emotional, and cognitive health as well as a home safety assessment, Jaclin said. The agency will develop a care plan for each member, and will be on call around the clock to provide assistance in responding to emergencies.
Secure@Home will also offer the services of a volunteer chore corps to do light handiwork around the house, deliver cultural/wellness lectures, conduct monthly monitoring, provide discounted transportation services through RideProvide, and give information and referral for home health care and other health-related services. In addition, members will have free access to Angie's List, which rates the quality of service of plumbers, electricians, roofers, and other repair providers.
The model for Secure@Home is Beacon Hill Village in Boston, said Jaclin, who had recently returned from a conference there. Some 200 people were in attendance from throughout the country – all of them eager to get information about starting a similar type of program, she said.
"So we are really at the forefront for this type of model," she said. "I'd say we are one of the first to have this type of program after Beacon Hill Village. It's very exciting, and people are very supportive of the program, whether they need it now or realize they'll need it in the future."
In fact, Secure@Home is really breaking new ground by partnering an established social support network with a social-service agency that can provide essential health-care services to seniors, said Vicky Bergman. She founded CWW with her husband, Richard Bergman, and two friends, Harriet Bogdanoff and Roz Denard.
"I don't think there's anything like it anywhere," said Bergman, a former vice president of The Jewish Center in Princeton and a member of the Princeton Township Committee. "It's unique."
The seed for the initiative was a conference CWW hosted in 2002 to explore the kinds of services members would need in order to stay in their own homes as long as possible, she said.
"That was the pebble in the pond that rippled out and became Secure@Home," she said. "This was clearly the right time for this to develop. I think it's very exciting, and I think it will be a real asset to the community. I'm delighted JFCS is doing it."
CWW interviewed several agencies before choosing JFCS to provide Secure@Home, according to Richard Bergman.
"The committee felt that Jewish Family and Children's Service was the best in the community, and that's a tribute to them," he said. "They felt that JFCS was the best qualified and equipped by longevity of service, by documented excellence, and by familiarity with the community. It's a very natural extension of what we started 15 years ago."
Secure@Home will provide the necessary link to health-care services that will allow members to continue to age well, noted Bogdanoff and Denard.
"That's the crux of it," said Denard, who is 83. "This enables us to fulfill that goal, because you can't age in place without the necessary supports."
"It links us with the support that's necessary for all of us to be able to stay in our own homes," said the 84-year-old Bogdanoff, a retired geriatric social worker. "It's going to give us the support we need if we get to a point where we can't manage on our own."
JFCS is remarkably forward thinking as it takes its place at the forefront of providing such services, observed Elaine Moorin of Princeton, president of the agency's board.
"I am so excited about this," she said. "I think it is a phenomenally innovative program to provide services to allow people to stay in their own homes, and I just think it is so needed throughout the entire community. I think JFCS is very innovative when it comes to programs for seniors. There's nothing like it in the state."
JFCS executive director Linda Meisel also expressed pride in the program. "We are clearly in the forefront, and I love to start new things," Meisel said. "Jill brings a tremendous amount of energy to the new program, and I think we are going to be able to offer the community something very special."
Several of the CWW members who turned out for the launch also welcomed the new program. "I think it's an excellent idea, and I think it's going to help the community," said 79-year-old Harold Broitman of Princeton, a member of The Jewish Center. "JFCS by any other name is uniquely qualified to do a good job, and that's what's attractive to me. I think we're in good hands."
Ruth Schulman of Princeton called Secure@Home "an idea whose time has arrived."
"More and more of us want to remain in our homes and want to remain in this area," said Schulman, a sociologist who is a member of The Jewish Center. "It will keep us healthy and keep us active in the community, and we have a lot to contribute. A program like this is insurance to help us continue to lead active lives."
Rabbi David Wolf Silverman, resident scholar at The Jewish Center, also expressed enthusiasm. "I think it's excellent," said the 80-year-old rabbi, "because it can provide professional expertise and experience, ranging from changing a light bulb beyond reach to providing the kinds of things seniors need."
The rabbi's wife, Ziona Silverman, said she was excited about the program. "We've been looking forward to something of this nature for three or four years now," she said. "Once Jewish Family and Children's Service began to think about offering these services on an administrative level, that was the umbrella we needed. I really look forward to this being a boon to this community."
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