The Blog From the Heart

Base Salary Base Salary is linked to the Israeli minimum wage, currently ILS 6248/month (as of April 1, 2025). More experienced caregivers may ask for more. Many caregivers will ask to be paid “pocket money” of ILS 100/week as a cash advance, which is deducted from the Base Salary at the end of the month. It is important to note that “pocket money” that is paid over and above the Base Salary is considered additional wages and factor into the calculation of social benefits.

(This post originally appeared in the Times of Israel) As the owner of a Geriatric Care Management company, I know first-hand how agonizing it is for adult children to make care decisions for a cognitively impaired parent who has not made his or her wishes clearly known or enabled anyone to make the decision. And I know exactly what needs to be done to avoid it. But when it came down to sitting down and doing it, I stalled. I’m not alone, I know. There are loads of studies ou

When Miriam came to Israel, she practically ran the Jerusalem-based assisted living facility she moved into. “She organized lectures for the English-speaking residents; she ran a movie night; she was even doing some writing for the facility. My mother was a businesswoman by profession and a go-getter by personality,” tells her daughter Orli. From the beginning, Miriam needed help from Orli and her sister, both living in Israel. “Our mother doesn’t speak any Hebrew, so she alw

Your phone rings. It’s your father’s in-home caregiver. “It’s Mary,” says the voice on the other end of the line in her familiar accented...

As your parents age, chances are that they will need increasing levels of assistance with one or more of their daily activities. In all...

“I like my stuff.’” That’s the dead end you run into every time you bring up the state of organization in your parent’s home. You try to broach the subject… tactfully. “You know, Mom, it’s getting tough to move around in the guest room with all this stuff in there.” “Dad, do you want me to help you clear out some stuff so you have more space?” “You don’t have a hard time finding what you need with all this stuff in the closet, Mom?” It may happen right away or it may happen t

Three of the following statements about senior benefits in Israel are true. Three are false. Do you know which is which? 30% discount on...

You care so much. And you’re so far away. Trying to manage your parent’s care (or even stay updated and involved) from another country can be exceptionally taxing – practically, emotionally and financially. The lack of ability to interact personally with mom or dad on a regular basis, to see with your own eyes how they seem and what their home situation looks like, leaves you feeling disconnected. It’s difficult to really know what’s going on; you might have someone local to

If you are managing a workplace in Israel, you surely know which of your employees has kids at home. Chances are you offer them some...

There are no two ways about it: caring for an aging loved one raises levels of mental health risk . Whether it’s because of elevated...

It sounded so easy. “Mom, it’s time to hire a caregiver”. Except it was everything but easy. Despite your perception of her obvious need,...

“Stop yelling at me!” You close your eyes. Once, not so long ago, but now far, far away, you had a loving, close, sharing relationship...

It’s is hard to think about, and even harder to talk about, but chances are that, someday, you will not be able to make your own medical...

Our previous post on 10 Hidden Benefits for Seniors got so much great feedback that we decided to generate a second list, revealing 10...

Popular media often refers to the “sandwich generation” as the group of people ranging in age from their 30s to 60s who are “sandwiched”...