Jerry Cohen cont'd

Interviewer: What does the word "caregiving" mean to you Jerry?

Camerman Bob Bryan with Cohen

Jerry: Caregiving to me means that the attendant really cares. There's a bond between the patient and the caregiver. In fact, you might say there's a love relationship, one caring for the other. And she performs her duty in a very professional way and I'm referring to the caregiver that I have caring for Harriet right now. It's a wonderful relationship and there could be no better asset for the patient than being in the home environment.

Janet: I think there's a real disincentive not only from the policy standpoint from the caregiving institution situation, but also I think a lot of doctors and social workers don't think that families are really capable or up to doing full-time caregiving for people at home. Because maybe they haven't seen it in their family, so they don't think it's possible. I have several clients that want to take care of their loved ones at home. Even with a combination of family members helping out, or even one person helping out, and sometimes doctors and other people interfering with that relationship and that request and desire.

I feel like it's my job to say, "Look, everybody has a choice and this is all about choices. And we should all support the person's choice about where they should be given care, either in the home or in the assisted living environment, or in the nursing home." To make those choices available is to support those choices for people.

Interviewer: What's going to happen when we double our over sixty-five populations in 20 years? How are we going to handle it? You are in the front line.

Janet Morris, Debra Bierman, Wiland-Bell crew

Janet: Yeah, one of the things about choice is, although there is a cost to caregiving at home, I think it is probably costlier to do caregiving in an institution. Because people sort of donate their time at home. And with the increase in the elderly population, we're going to be older, and sicker, and more debilitated, and need more help.

I think we have to look at a combination of resources; public resources, private resources, and also insurance. I think we have to spend, pay more attention to long term care insurance because we can then insure for that possibility and also it's about choice. When you get a good policy you could be covered at home, in the intermediate care, or at the long term care facility depending where your needs are and what your desires are. So I think we have to look at a more expanded look about where the money is coming from and how it's going to be done.

Jerry: I just wanted to say something, if I may. They contacted me, Bluecross Blueshield. I'll give you an illustration regarding myself. If, God forbid, I became ill to the point that I had to enter a, just to be insured, a nursing home, I would pay about $3,000 to $4,000 a year and they would cut me off at 85. So I said, what benefit would I get? Nothing. God forbid if that happened after the eighty-fifth year.

Interviewer: What does the phrase "and thou shalt honor" mean to you Jerry?

Jerry: "Thou shalt honor?" Well, I live by the golden rule if that means anything in response to your question. "Do unto others as they would do unto you." I lived a "good" life the years I, and I was fortunate to, with hard work all my life. I was seventh in my graduating class in high school with an average of 93 plus. And I lived through the Depression working for $6 a week, 54 hours.

So I had a good work ethic and here I am today 83 years old and, as I say, fortunately I've accumulated that sum of money which is now being expended for the care of my wife whom I love very dearly, very dearly. I love her now more than when I first met her.

Interviewer: So you want to do the right thing?

Jerry: I am. I am doing the right thing. I want her home, giving her the best of care with love.

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