A nursing home in Arab-Israeli society: targeting utilization in a changing social and economic environment

This article is a case study of the first 10 years of operation (1992-2002) of the Dabouriya Home for the Aged, the first publicly funded culturally adapted nursing home for Israeli citizens of Arab descent. Although 44% of Arab Israelis and 26% of Jewish Israelis aged 65 and older are disabled, in 1999, 4.3% of the Jewish population but only 0.7% of the Arab-Israeli population aged 65 or older lived in long-term care institutions; disabled Arab-Israeli elderly were mainly cared for by families. As Arab-Israeli society modernizes and traditional caregiving is reduced, alternatives must be found for this growing, disabled population. Medical and administrative records of 404 people admitted consecutively to a 136-bed facility over 10 years were analyzed. Two distinct segments of the needy population were served: people with independent activity of daily living (ADL) function but little or no family to provide help with intermediate ADLs and those dependent in ADLs and with health problems, especially dementia. Economic, demographic, and social changes in Arab-Israeli society may mean that traditional caregivers will not be able to adequately care for this highly disabled population. Administrators of the public health system in Israel should be aware of the underutilization of publicly funded long-term care by disabled Arab Israelis and the lack of care alternatives for the population that does use nursing homes, because there may be severe consequences in terms of caregiver burden and social stress when disabled elderly people remain in unsuitable environments.