With the goal of efficiently dealing with anticipated changes in the lives of senior citizens and with the rise in life expectancy, the Rehovot Senior Citizens’ Department, a department of its Social Services Division, recently set up a municipal “Round Table” to discuss issues related to the senior population and provide a response for new needs as they arise.
Participating in the monthly Round Table sessions are representatives of different entities, who have been pooling their efforts to map out the various needs of the senior population in the city. New joint programs are being constructed to provide a suitable solution for those needs that do not yet have a proper response.
Doron Milberg, Municipal Director-General: “I am happy that a forum of this kind has assembled for the benefit of Rehovot’s senior citizen population. The Municipality will do its best to promote initiatives that will be proposed in the framework of the Round Table.”
Anat Yules, Director of the Department for Citizens’ Benefits: “Nowadays, when the percentage of seniors in the general population is on the rise, the area of geriatric services is undergoing significant change. That is why we felt there was a need to put together a round table at which service providers from different areas in the elderly person’s experience could sit together and get acquainted, bring up significant issues, and promote joint innovative programs on behalf of the elderly population in Rehovot.”
Orit Carta-Gahasi, community social worker at the municipal Senior Citizens’ Department: “Already at this stage, thanks to the acquaintance made between the various service providers, a direct connection was forged among the heads of the different organizations. This connection facilitates enhanced collaborative efforts to promote projects, among them, the effort to deal with the problem of loneliness among homebound seniors. For example, a new service is being developed to provide a solution for senior citizens who are released from the hospital and have no close relatives living nearby to be with them when they are released. Another project is the development of a social club for the chareidi senior population, and more. We are hopeful that the continued work of the Round Table will generate responses to additional issues and unique needs of our senior citizens.
The following entities take part in the Round Table: Kaplan Hospital, the Health Ministry, Klalit, Maccabi, and Meuchedet Health Service Providers, Aleh, Ezer Mizion, Yad Sarah, WIZO, and Rehovot Volunteers Association, Chavayot network, Habayit Hacham, Municipal Absorption Center, and People’s Podium.
