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Feb. 16, 2007
Check under the hood
Mental health survey is geared towards seniors.
VERONIKA STEWART
It's like checking your oil," said Jerry Kushner, director
of the Jewish Seniors Alliance, who helped man a mental health check-up
booth set-up at Oakridge Centre recently.
Maintenance is regarded as a necessary aspect of caring for a vehicle,
but how about when it comes to caring for yourself? To facilitate
self-maintenance, the JSA provided an opportunity at Oakridge for
seniors to undergo a mental evaluation.
Kushner said that it's very rare for people, especially seniors,
to share how they're doing, and that their volunteer-based check-up
was meant to remedy this lack of communication.
"We have completed quite a few interviews," chipped in
Rita Roling, a JSA volunteer who worked at the booth. "We have
had quite a nice response." The three volunteers manning the
booth had completed 12 surveys by lunchtime, with the booth opening
just after 10 a.m.
Kushner, who began the program in conjunction with Beth Tikvah Synagogue,
said he got the idea from a professor from Toronto who operated
a similar check-up system for women with newborn children.
"Over the years, I decided it can be done to see how you're
doing," Kushner explained. "And our approach was to concentrate
on seniors.
"We want to clearly identify the situation facing Jewish seniors,"
he added. Kushner explained that many seniors face loneliness, isolation
and a feeling of being unacknowledged.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 13 per cent
of Canada's population is 65 years of age or older, and approximately
10 to 15 per cent of those seniors exhibit depressive symptoms.
The association also notes that for seniors who live in long-term
care facilities, the rate of depression is estimated to be as high
as 50 per cent.
However, according to the CMHA, it is late-life dementias like Alzheimer's,
which currently affect eight per cent of seniors over 65 and more
than 25 per cent of seniors over 80, that are the real challenge
facing seniors' health care.
In administering the surveys, Kushner said the volunteers have learned
things they already knew intellectually, but have now reaffirmed
through communication with seniors in the community. This check-up
was the JSA's third this year. The other two check-ups took place
at Beth Tikvah.
Roling said the JSA chose to set up at Oakridge Centre because many
Jewish seniors come to the mall for social contact.
The survey is very unobtrusive and does not ask for a last name.
In fact, it is very conversational. It asks how the respondent is
doing and about family, work and friends - and asks the respondent
to rate their current life situation on a scale of one to five.
"We believe in education, and it doesn't matter how old a person
is," Roling said.
And it's not just applicable for Jewish seniors. Kushner said his
group's material on mental health check-ups has attracted a lot
of interest from other people in North America who are interested
in setting up a similar program in their own cities.
"It's very mobile," Kushner said. "It has a universal
appeal."
Veronika Stewart is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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