The services provided by Ten Kavod are completely free to aid the elderly who are struggling financially. There are 190,000 holocaust survivors in Israel today, including 48,000 living below the poverty line, and 38,500 who report having to choose between food, medication, and other necessities.

The volunteer visits his or her assigned senior citizen in his home and monitors his health and vitals in order to provide preventative care. Furthermore, the volunteer assists the senior citizen in contending with the digital world and making appointments at the Health Fund (Kupat Cholim). The volunteer also serves as a companion who engages the senior citizen and helps alleviate his loneliness, thereby, the volunteer acts as an additional field of warmth and protection for the senior citizen.

United Hatzalah established the Ten Kavod program in 2012 in response to the many incidents of elder neglect reported by our volunteer medics. The program’s mission is to provide a safety net for Israel’s at-risk Holocaust survivors and elderly population living alone in the community. Our Ten Kavod volunteers undergo a 44-hour training course so that they can identify any medical issues requiring attention as well as carry out weekly vital signs checks.

Weekly home visits include vital signs checks (temperature, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, etc.), which help identify changes in the patient’s medical condition and prevent deterioration and repeated hospital stays. Our emphasis is on preventive care – such as early diagnosis of medical issues – to avoid prolonged and costly hospital stays and deterioration of current or new health conditions. We train our volunteers to recognize symptoms of dementia, injury, and poor nutrition.