Studies have indicated the positive correlation between an elderly person’s having a social network and his or her well-being. Social networks become increasingly important as a person ages, and needs more support; but it is then that the accessibility of social support networks decreases. A vulnerable subgroup of the elderly population is that of immigrants, who have particularly limited social networks. Since the early 1990s, some 150,000 elderly individuals have immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. The “Warm Home” program was developed by ESHEL – The Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel for elderly, especially immigrants. It was modeled after a program that was successfully implemented by the Joint Jewish Distribution Committee in the former Soviet Union. A “warm home” consists of an elderly couple or individual (not recent immigrants) who host other elderly people in their home once or twice a week. Participation is free, and the content of the meetings is determined by participants, some of whom also help organize the informal, intimate activities. At present, with the funding and at the initiative of ESHEL, associations for the aged, and local authorities, over 100 warm homes are active throughout Israel, attended by some 2,200 elderly participants, most of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
The study evaluated the warm home programs active at the end of 2003, and focused on 15 programs that had existed for more than six months. Use was made of multiple sources of both qualitative and quantitative information: interviews with participants in the 15 programs, hosts and professionals, and analysis of administrative data on activities and members of all of the programs, which was conducted in 2003-2004.
The following were among the study’s principal findings:
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The main reasons for joining the program were to feel a sense of belonging, meet new people, and gain social support.
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The program contributed to participants in ways that justified their reasons for joining it: It enabled them to meet new people (96%), gave them a feeling of belonging to the community (93%), and helped them overcome loneliness (90%). Moreover, participants met (63%) or called (28%) each other outside of meetings, and asked one another for help (18%).
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The participants were very satisfied (80%) or satisfied (an additional 17%) with the program.
The findings revealed several issues worthy of attention: how to involve participants in other community frameworks as volunteers, and how to strengthen the program’s contact with the local social welfare system. Another issue that arose was how to meet participants’ needs after ESHEL’s involvement has ended: whether to see the program as temporary and hence to encourage participants to join other programs in the community, or to help them continue in the “warm home” framework. The study revealed that 15% of warm home participants also often attend a senior club — a finding that reinforces the idea of seeking ways to encourage members to join senioir clubs. However, a significant portion of the elderly would like to maintain the intimate “warm home” framework. At present, some 15 warm homes have been implemented for over three years; with funding from local authorities and without ESHEL’s participation, they are continuing to function in the same format.
These findings were presented to the administrations of JDC-Israel and ESHEL, and to ESHEL’s committee on community services, in an effort to derive lessons and plan for the future. The findings were also presented at a conference of Jewish communities held in Jerusalem in 2004, and to the Jewish Federation of New York. The study was funded with the assistance of ESHEL.
Citations in the professional and academic literature
Casakin, H., & Neikrug, S. (2012). Place Identity in the Neighborhood as Perceived by the Elder Residents: Relations with Attachment, Dependence and Place Quality. The Role of Place Identity in the Perception, Understanding, and Design of Built Environments, 107-119.
Casakinu, H., & Neikrug, S. (2012). Place Identity in the Neighborhood as Perceived by the Elder Residents: Relations with Attachment, Dependence and Place Quality. The Role of Place Identity in the Perception, Understanding, and Design of Built Environments, 107.