OUR SERVICESAdult Day Programs offer support, education and friendship for seniors who live at home
At Jewish Home Lifecare (JHL)’s Adult Day programs, elders enjoy companionship and recreation.
Recreational Therapy Promotes Wellness
Jewish Home Lifecare’s Therapeutic Recreation staff provides a wide range of activities for day program clients. Movies and cultural events, art and music therapy, fitness, and day trips keep participants active and engaged. Intergenerational programs encourage elders to share their wisdom with today’s youth, through mentoring and socializing.
Recreation benefits for elders include increased self-esteem, improved social skills and a sense of accomplishment.
Additionally, for elders with restrictive medical conditions, Medical Adult Day Programs provide medical and rehabilitative services.
Staying Active: Physical Fitness
Total Wellness: Healthy Lifestyle
Complementary Therapies
Cultural Events: Enrichment and Enjoyment
Day Trips: Exploring the Environs
Technology: for Fitness and Fun
Staying Active: Physical Fitness programs
Staying active is a key part of staying healthy as one ages. The adult day program helps clients exercise regularly. 
Dance, tai chi and yoga are just some of the ways day program participants keep fit. Programs such as the pain management exercise group and an osteo-fitness program are targeted to clients’ special needs. Massage therapy enhances clients’ well-being.
The Healthy Living Group walks with pedometers to monitor and increase their exercise levels.
The Mall Walk program is another popular way to exercise while socializing.
Westchester Day Program Director Ann Frolova explains, “We’ve converted the mall visits from a window shopping trip into a healthy walking exercise where all the clients are encouraged to maintain a brisk pace.”
Total Wellness: Healthy Lifestyle programs
Engaging in activities helps satisfy the needs of the “total” person: physical, social, emotional, and spiritual.
Holidays are always a reason to celebrate at Jewish Home Lifecare. Day center clients enjoy organized festivities marking special days throughout the year.
The day centers offer a full schedule of exciting groups to foster self-esteem and encourage well-being. Art and music therapy, Men’s groups in Spanish and English, and the popular Green Thumb horticulture group are just a few examples.
The Bronx Adult Day Home Health Program, which is the first and oldest program of its kind in New York City, has always led the way with innovative programs.
Bronx Day Program Director Susan Holodak explains, “You know how older adults love to play bingo? Well, we’ve given it a new twist and have turned it into a health education game. The concept is simple, but effective. The title says it all— Nutrition Bingo.”
“Changing lifelong habits is a challenge we’re also meeting,” says Holodak, “by offering a Healthy Living Program, an interdisciplinary approach to assist clients in making some healthy lifestyle changes.”
Holodak reports that the Day Program on the Bronx campus is beginning a Memory Retaining Program for individuals with mild cognitive impairments. “This is in addition to our regular sessions for those with Alzheimer’s disease, and it fills a gap,” says Holodak.
For individuals who have sustained falls at home, there is a home monitoring program to make clients’ home environments safer and reduce the incidence of falls.
A family education group around the topic of dementia has begun in all three day centers. Day Care staff began to make referrals to College Health Enterprise Psychologist for cognitive retraining, supportive counseling and psychotherapy as necessary.
For participants in the Health Day programs, a full range of physical, occupational and speech therapies is available as needed. Participants’ medical conditions are regularly monitored and elders receive round-trip transportation, a nutritionally balanced hot meal and snacks.
Complementary Therapies
Strong emphasis is placed on wellness and healthy aging activities including tai chi, aromatherapy, massage, walking programs, telemedicine, falls prevention, and creative arts. Art and music therapy are two of the ways Jewish Home Lifecare employs complementary therapies to foster elders’ overall health.
Did you know? Music promotes increased chemical production in the brain of those chemicals that produce feelings of well being.
Music therapy uses music and activities to improve physical, emotional, creative, and spiritual well-being. Some of music therapy’s many benefits include help relieving anxiety, improved memory function, and improved motor skills.
Adult daycare center clients enjoy dancing and look forward to hearing songs that hold personal meaning for them. Music therapy is equally a social event, and contributes to building a sense of community.
The Manhattan campus has a photo group, sponsored by Rehabilitation Through Photography, a nonprofit group that supplies cameras and supportive materials to organizations like Jewish Home Lifecare to promote the concept of photography as a rehabilitative measure.
Day client Sandra Becote participates in the Photo Group and was recently selected as a finalist in the 1st annual FEGS Haym Solomon Arts Awards Competition for the photo Sun- Kissed Journey. Becote snapped the photo on a day trip to Wave Hill when she was there along with the other members of the Adult Day Center.
Becote says that she fell in love with photography from the moment she picked up a camera, declaring that she loves any kind of art. “When we went to Wave Hill, I was thrilled to be out there with all my friends. It was such a wonderful day. Then I saw that big old, tree with the sun shining down on it and I’m not sure why I took the shot—I just knew I had to. I guess it was a moment I wanted to capture as a memory of that day—for always.”
Cultural Events: Enrichment and Enjoyment
Jewish Home Lifecare’s Adult Day Programs take advantage of the range of cultural opportunities available in the New York area.
The Guggenheim Museum, Jewish Museum, the theater at SUNY Purchase, and Radio City Music Hall are some typical destinations for cultural outings. Afternoon concerts at the Juilliard School are a regular trip, as well.
Community Works, a cultural public service organization, has made it possible for day program participants to see such outstanding performers as Grupo Folklorico, Kanata Native Dance Theater, Ailey II and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The Manhattan program hosts a Music and Art Expression Group and a Poetry Hour.
Recently, day program thespians gave a smash performance of To Kill a Mockingbird in the Manhattan auditorium.
Day Trips: Exploring the Environs
Clients in the Adult Day Programs enjoy outings throughout the year, to parks, restaurants, and a variety of places of interest in our communities.
Day trips include a boat trip up the Hudson, visits to the nautical landmarks at City Island and Harbor Park in Mamaroneck. (Harbor Island Park’s sweeping views and protected waterfront is often described as the “Jewel of Mamaroneck.”)
The Day programs also regularly visit Wave Hill, a 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades.
There are excursions to local movie theaters and to dine out.
“Our clients also love the regular outings to different restaurants,” Sarah Neuman Day Center Director Ann Frolova notes. “They’re adventurous in their tastes. And even though places like the Red Lobster are among their favorites, they recently voted to try a restaurant with Indian cuisine.”
Technology: for Fitness and Fun
The Wii video bowling tournament has become a welcome regular addition to the adult day program at Jewish Home Lifecare’s Manhattan and Westchester campuses.
“It gets people moving,” says Sarah Neuman Social worker Atoinette Mentor of Wii, which requires players to use physical gestures like waving arms to control what happens on the video screen. “It improves balance and endurance and even helps with cognitive skills.”
“It’s a new tool,” explains Elaine Healy, geriatric medicine specialist and medical director at Sarah Neuman. “For people who are disabled, it provides an opportunity to participate in activities that involve motor skill and hand eye coordination that would otherwise likely be impossible for them to achieve.”
Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) is a non-profit organization that provides computer training designed specifically for elders.
Student volunteers are assigned by OATS to teach courses at JHL. The classes keep participant’s minds active, open new avenues of communication, and offer day center clients an intergenerational experience.
Participants find the OATS training especially energizing. As they progress, they learn to write emails to family and friends, and to “surf the net,” which lets them access the Medicare and other health-related websites.
Clients who speak languages other than English especially appreciate gaining access to translation websites after taking the class, and also enjoy communicating with friends and family via email.
Ms. T, an immigrant who moved to the United States, is an active Day Center client. Of her ten children, only one currently lives in the U.S. Thanks to OATS, Ms. T can now keep in touch with her far-flung children and grandchildren, quickly and inexpensively.
At Sarah Neuman, the Never2Late software program presents a challenging variety of games and informational programs that day clients control merely by touching the screen. Day Program Director Ann Frolova explains that the system is designed especially for people with limited or restricted physical abilities.
Edward Ciarmella, a client, sits before an unusual looking computer setup. There is no need for his arthritic fingers to touch the keyboard. The program is self-instructional and has voice prompts every step of the way.
In addition to the games like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and the informational programs, clients can learn how to use the computer to go on the Internet, all by themselves.
“I think it’s great,” says Ciarmella. “I never thought I’d ever use a computer, and now I’m sending e-mails. And we love playing Wheel of Fortune together.”