HOW WE HELP
NYFE is first and foremost dedicated to caring for and meeting the needs of our elderly population. The Foundation provides funds to organizations that often conduct hands-on programs of treatment, therapy and education, as well as one-on-one engagement with seniors. The Foundation supports those who may have limited resources at a time when they have the greatest needs, so they may continue to live independently. Through education and therapy, and with advanced clinical training for geriatric professionals, seniors continue to imbue their lives with meaning and fulfillment.
The principal areas of interest are:
Community Education:
The Foundation seeks to educate older individuals and their families to improve health literacy, expand the understanding of navigation of the health care system, and enhance the delivery of health care for older New Yorkers.
The Foundation organizes a five-session series of seminars on subjects including medications; pain management; hospice/palliative medicine and advance directives from a physician’s perspective.
Professional Training of Geriatric Professionals:
The number of trained health care professionals is insufficient to meet the anticipated growth in New York’s older population. NYFE recognizes the urgency and importance of providing the next generation of physicians and other health care professionals with knowledge, skills and compassion dedicated to improving the quality of life for older individuals, especially those at the later stages of life. Not only can better medical attention in later life lead to a more fulfilling and comfortable stage for older patients, but it can yield learning and experience that can be applied to improving health care for everyone, regardless of age.
Since 1982, NYFE has supported a unique program designed to improve the quality of medical, psychiatric and nursing care for older seniors, with a special focus on the frail elderly. Named after Leo and Julia Forchheimer, the program offers medical students a year-long, enhanced clinical experience of specialized knowledge and supervised patient contact in geriatric psychiatry, working with physicians of Montefiore Medical Center and Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
Direct Service Programs:
The Foundation annually funds a wide range of not-for-profit community-based or community-serving organizations that work directly with seniors. The Foundation seeks to increase the availability and effectiveness of comprehensive community programs designed to maintain older persons in their homes, as well as provide supportive services to older persons in residential settings, such as congregate living facilities, group homes, and assisted living facilities.
Examples of these programs include:
- shingles awareness and vaccination program
- home assistance for low-income seniors
- therapeutic recreation for nursing home residents
- intergenerational volunteer programs
- emergency alert pendants for Holocaust survivors living alone.
For more information please contact:
Shari Gold, Program Administrator at Sgold@nyfe.org
New York Foundation for Eldercare is a tax exempt organization pursuant to the IRC Section 501(c)
