Resources

Questions about aging? We have answers from A to Z. Each year, JCA answers thousands of questions about employment, finances, health and wellness, home care, housing,  transportation — and many other topics.

Please call or email the Senior HelpLine for answers and assistance:

  • Maryland and D.C.: 301.255.4200
  • Virginia: 703.425.0999
  • TDD: 301.881.5263

Aging and Caregiving

Cognitive Impairment

Watch as music revives and enlivens a 94-year-old nursing home resident who has dementia. This is a heartwarming, rough-cut excerpt from the one-hour documentary Alive Inside.

The Alzheimer’s Disease Education & Referral Center provides free and easy access to scores of articles and fact sheets by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) about the causes, symptoms, treatment and challenges of Alzheimer’s Disease. It offers a library of videos, too: HBO Documentaries produced in collaboration with NIA.

Consumer Protection

Day Programs

Death With Dignity

  • In less than six minutes, the TED video entitled “Prepare for a Good End of Life” demonstrated how practical planning and good communication helps those who are dying and those who are left behind achieve peace of mind. The video is of a lecture by Judy MacDonald Johnston, who says that she develops children’s reading programs by day while at night she helps others maintain quality of life as they near death.
  • The Kaddish is a prayer that has become an important part of Jewish mourning rituals. In The Meaning of Kaddish
    by Aish.com, Charlie Haray explains how this prayer can help those remember their “mission in this world.”
  • According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, “Right now, more than 110,000 people are waiting for an organ. More than 98 million people in the U.S. are aged 50 and older….About 21 million of them think they’re too old to be donors.” Yet people are never too old to give the gift of life. To learn more, see the video
    Any Age is the Right Age.

Educational Opportunities

Elder Abuse and Exploitation

  • Elder abuse: What older adults and their loved ones must know to stay safe.
  • Established by Charles E. Smith Life Communities, the ElderSAFE Center in Rockville, Maryland provides safe, temporary shelter; coordinates and provides community referrals; and increases public awareness about elder abuse. JCA is partner of the Center because elder abuse is such a serious and growing problem. As many as one in 10 older adults living on their own is a victim of elder abuse, and experts estimate that for every one case reported, 23 are not.
  • Find out about elder abuse prevention via the Eldercare Locator.
  • The DOJ Elder Justice website offers victims of elder abuse and those who love them information about how to report elder abuse and financial exploitation in all 50 states and territories. Other resources on the DOJ Elder Justice website are designed to assist researchers in the field and professionals striving to prevent elder abuse and support those who have been abused, neglected or exploited. According to the DOJ, the site will updated often to reflect changes in the law, add new sample documents, and provide news in the rapidly evolving elder justice field.

Employment

  • Older Workers Are Here to Stay.
  • Montgomery County Public Libraries career resources.
  • Workforce Development Boards oversee federal, state and local funding that connects jobseekers and employers while helping jobseekers become job ready. They also oversee the American Job Centers, where jobseekers can access employment information, career development programs and other programs, too. Use a service locator. Simply enter your zip code in the navigator to find the WDB and related programs nearest you. The Montgomery County WDB guides the operation of WorkSource Montgomery, and JCA is pleased to provide regular, on-site support at its Wheaton location.
  • Visit the AARP website.

Financial

Tax Credits

The Montgomery County Council approved a new property tax credit for residents who are at least 65 years old and who have either lived in the same home for at least 40 years or are retired veterans of the U.S. military. Residents who qualify are eligible to receive a 20 percent credit for the property tax imposed on their homes.

Fitness and Exercise

  • Do good guys really finish last? Maybe not! Watch Age of Champions, a trailer for an award-winning documentary about the Senior Olympics.
  • Stephen Jepson believes that adults should never leave the playground if they want to avoid falls, be healthy and be mentally sharp. Now in his early 70s, Steve skates, jumps, invents and has a grand time in this inspiring video.
  • 86-year-old Johanna Quaas, a retired PE teacher from Leipzig, Germany, began gymnastics training when she was 50-something. Now, The Guiness Book of Records calls her the world’s oldest gymnast, a title she enjoys because she hopes to inspire others. This video shows her bar routine and floor exercises. She is a virtuoso on the trampoline, too.

Health

Housing Options

  • A tip of the iceberg.
  • The Senior Living website explains the different types and levels of senior living, senior care and senior lifestyles. It also includes ways to find the best care for you.
  • Visit the Senior Citizens’ Resources section at USA.gov.
  • Calling itself “Virginia’s resource for health and aging,” the Senior Navigator website provides information on housing, legal and financial issues as well as listings of organizations that help older Virginians and the providers of eldercare services.
  • Thanks to ProPublica, which calls itself “an independent nonprofit newsroom,” you can use institutional names, keywords or locations to search a database of nursing home deficiencies identified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS, a Federal agency). Searching is free, and ProPublica plans to keep the database up to date by adding new data as they are released by CMS. Use the Nursing Home Inspect online tool.
  • In print and on the Internet, The Guide offers a large database of senior housing options, home health care services, and professional services in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Visit the Guide to Retirement Living website.
  • Search for housing options via the Eldercare Locator.
  • Visit The Beacon website.

Living at Home

Faith, Religion and Spirituality

  • Project findings suggest ways that faith groups and the organizations they sponsor can work more effectively together. JCA was a study participant and served on the Project Advisory Committee. Visit the Faith & Organizations Project website.

Jewish Faith

  • Create a Jewish Legacy: This is an initiative of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, which operates it with local partner agencies, schools and congregations. Through bequests, it builds a strong and vibrant community, now and in the future. JCA is a pioneer member. Visit the Create a Jewish Legacy website.
  • The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington: The Jewish Federation cares for those in need, deepens engagement in Jewish life and strengthens the bonds among Jews in the Washington area, in Israel and around the world. Federation has supported the Jewish Council for the Aging since our founding in 1973. Visit the Federation website, where you can also make a secure online donation.
  • Jconnect: This is the place to find information on everything Jewish in the Greater Washington community — events, careers, learning opportunities and more, including the senior services of Charles E. Smith Life Communities, the region’s three Jewish Community Centers, the Jewish Social Service Agency, the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse and JCA. By registering with Jconnect, you can request free emailed notices tailored to your particular interests and needs. Visit the Jconnect website.
  • Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington: The JCRC endeavors to foster a society based on freedom, justice and democratic pluralism through government relations, Israel advocacy, inter-group relations and social justice programs. More than 100 constituent agencies, organizations and synagogues in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland belong to the JCRC, and JCA is proud to be among them. Visit the JCRC website.
  • Washington Jewish Week: Washington Jewish Week, which has been serving the Greater Washington Jewish Community since 1930, is not only a print newspaper, but also a website and blog. JCA collaborates with WJW on the publication of quarterly Senior Resource Guides on topics that include local transportation options, employment, caregiving and brain health. To request free printed copies of the recent Senior Resource Guides, call the JCA Senior HelpLine at 301.255.4200 or 703.425.0999. Visit the Washington Jewish Week website.

Legal

  • Calling itself “Virginia’s resource for health and aging,” the Senior Navigator website provides information on housing, legal and financial issues as well as listings of organizations that help older Virginians and the providers of eldercare services.
  • Search for legal services via the Eldercare Locator.

Life Cycle Changes

  • Via a series of short videos, Tributes to Aging, highlights achievements later in life by Clara Barton, Michelangelo, Benjamin Franklin and others.
  • YouTube archives an interesting collection of videos called “7up,” each of which shows portraits of famous people from the age of seven to old age. As example, you’ll find one segment on Katherine Hepburn segment on and another on Charlie Chaplin.

Lifestyle

Long Life

  • At the age of 109, Alice Herz Sommer is the oldest Holocaust survivor, and she’s clearly acquired more than a century of wisdom. “Everything is a Present” is not only the title of this video — an interview with Anthony Robbins — but also her life’s philosophy.
  • 100-year-old author and humorist Bel Kaufman shows us why “age is not a function of numbers but a function of attitude” in this Generation Inspiration video by Guideposts.
  • Mary Maxwell, the founder of Home Instead Senior Care, has wowed audiences with her humorous insights about growing old. In this video, her wit and deadpan delivery add spark and spunk to her invocation at an awards dinner.
  • Just for fun, watch an older couple having fun in between appointments at the Mayo Clinic. See the YouTube video entitled Mayo Clinic Atrium Piano.

Shattering Stereotypes About Growing Up and Growing Old

  • Apparently, no one ages like old Australians, at least in this lively Australian advertisement called “IronWorkz”.
    We share it to rejoice in its spunkiness rather than to promote eating red meat, its advertising goal. (Research shows that a eating a varied, balanced diet, with or without red meat, plus exercise and regular visits to the doctor are likely to promote health and wellness, though not necessarily to the extent shown here.)
  • Jack Rushton tried to live every moment to the fullest. Jack, who died in 2012, was a quadriplegic, a humorist, and inspirational speaker, and a person who decided that disability needn’t be disabling. After watching Jack’s video entitled “It’s Good To Be Alive,” one YouTube visitor wrote, “I’d say ‘May God bless you,’ but evidently He has.”
  • At 80, singer Janey Cutler received a standing ovation during her tryout in Glasgow, Scotland for the Britain’s Got Talent TV show. Watch her win hearts and votes in this official TV video.
  • Millions of people have shared the anxiety and joys of two older women from The Netherlands as they conquered their fear of flying. Experience their adventure by seeing An and Ria’s First Flight, one of several videos by Vodafone to celebrate “firsts.”

Love in Later Life

“A Love Story for the Ages” is just that — and it’s also a local story, filmed in Gaithersburg, MD.

Transportation

  • NV Rides is a network of service providers aiming to enhance and improve volunteer assisted transportation throughout Northern Virginia. This community-wide initiative aims to serve more non-driving older adults so that they can get where they need to go at no cost.
  • Search for transportation services via the Eldercare Locator.

Travel