Every fourth elderly person in Israel is poor, every fifth, hungry - this is stated in the annual report of the Brookdale Institute. This report was sent to the Minister for Senior Affairs, by Jenny Brodetzki and Yitzhak Shnor of the Brookdale Institute (A JDC-Eshel Institute that plans services for the senior citizens in Israel). This report reveals that there are 682,000 persons in Israel who are over 65 years old. Every fifth older person suffers from hunger. 10% of this population has no hot water, 18% has no protection from the winter cold. Every fifth elderly person lives alone and feels lonely. 14% does volunteer work in order not to feel lonely. 60% of that age group suffers from health problems - the elderly population sees a doctor on the average of 15 times a year. Every second elderly person has been in the hospital emergency room. 50% of them have sleeping disorders. Last year, 30,000 elderly persons died. Every fourth person in that age group died from cancer or a heart attack |