“JDC-ESHEL,” a unique non-governmental organization dedicated to the elderly in Israel

“JDC-ESHEL,” a non-governmental organization (NGO), has over the past 35 years been involved in the planning and development of services for the elderly in Israel. This organization functions under the auspices of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), an American based NGO which provides relief, rescue and reconstruction services to Jewish and non-Jewish clients around the world. Under the roof of the relevant government ministries, JDC-ESHEL brings together prominent stakeholders and professionals involved in the care of Israel's older citizens in order to plan and initiate pilot projects relevant to the elderly. Through an explicit consultative process, this NGO has developed services both in the community as well as in the institutional sectors, helping in this way to keep the rates of both acute and long-term nursing home care in Israel down to manageable levels. JDC-ESHEL offers an instructive example of how a nationally based NGO can play a major role in the planning and development of relevant services for the elderly, via the leverage produced through its relatively modest budget. In this way it provides a multiplier effect throughout the entire health and social service sectors.