Edward Ginsberg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, announced last night an $8 million program to improve facilities for the care of the aged in Israel which he said will be completed by the end of 1974. The program is being carried out by the Association for Planning and Developing Services for the Aged under JDC auspices.
Ginsberg is in Israel on a fact-finding tour of JDC and Malben projects following a similar survey of JDC programs in other countries. He said the Association plans to add some 800 new beds for the aged in new institutions to be built and in existing institutions which will be expanded. He said the beds would be assigned mainly to infirm persons who need round-the-clock medical care.
FUNDS ALLOCATED FOR TRAINING PROGRAMS
An additional 260 beds are to be provided in geriatric wards in general hospitals and comprehensive community service programs will be set up in ten localities for the aged able to live at home, he said. Many of the services are already being offered in Afula in Galilee and Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem. Other localities where services are planned include east and west Jerusalem, Beersheba, Ramle, Acre, Safad and Or Yehuda near Lydda.
The Association has also allocated funds to Tel Aviv University’s School of Social Work for courses to train professional personnel to work with the aged and has made a grant to the University’s Nursing School to allow faculty members to specialize in teaching for the care of the aged.
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