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Beijing and Haifa
Cooperate to Help the Aged
Tsinghua University Hosts UH Contingent
 Two
old civilizations that respect their aged are joining forces to try
to ensure that modern society does not abandon the welfare and
health of its aging members. In July, a contingent from the
University of Haifa led by Vice-President Yael Metser traveled to
Tsinghua University in Beijing for the signing of an agreement by
the two institutions in the area of care for the elderly. The
agreement is the fruit of a year-long process, led by Prof. Pei
Xiaomei of China and Assoc. Prof. Jacob Gindin of Israel, that
started at the meeting of the World Health Forum in Dallas, Texas,
in February 2003 and matured at the world meeting of InterRAI in
Berlin in March 2004. InterRAI promotes the use of internationally
standardized “Resident Assessment Instruments” for health care
settings for the aged and the disabled.
The agreement, which is under the authorization of InterRAI,
encompasses the exchange of trainees and faculty between the two
universities. It includes a call for a cadre of Chinese physicians
and nurses to come to Haifa to receive training in the set of
standards and evaluation tools developed by InterRAI. This training
will be provided by the Laboratory for Geriatrics and Gerontology
Research in the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies. Prof.
Ariela Loewenstein, who as Head of the Center for the Study of Aging
represented the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, and
Gindin, director of the laboratory, were on hand for the signing
ceremony.
Gindin, who also runs the physicians program in the Department of
Gerontology and has a worldwide reputation in the field of
geriatrics, is a Fellow of Interbrain, and chair of its Committee
for International Development. He is also head of the Geriatrics
Dept. at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot.
Tsinghua University Vice-President Prof. Xie Weihe, Dean of the
School of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Li Qiang, and Prof.
Pei Xiaomei, head of its Gerontology Center, represented the large
and highly reputable Beijing-based institution. The Beijing
municipality, as well as the Chinese government, was represented at
the ceremony by high-ranking officials.
InterRAI consists of professionals working in the fields of health
and social care research of older people, whether in residential
settings or in the community. The organization believes that a
standardized assessment of older peoples’ physical, psychosocial,
and cognitive needs provides necessary information for “good care
planning decisions that raise the quality of care for the
individual” and “better informed policy decisions at a local,
national, and international level.”
The international instrument presently deals with medical care, but
the aim is to develop standards that will also eventually cover the
whole environment of the aged population, according to Loewenstein.
The China National Working Commission on the Aging, set up by the
government, was instrumental in advancing the agreement with the
University of Haifa, which actually won a tender to deal with the
Chinese on this subject. Loewenstein told Focus that she hopes this
will be the start of joint research programs between the two
institutions.
Professor Xiaomei is scheduled to come to Haifa to work out a
schedule and training plan. She will be accompanied by Chinese
government officials. China has put care of the aged into its
five-year national program, and the training project fits into the
plan. This will involve, among others, the construction throughout
China of gerontology centers that will apply the international set
of practices and tools. The cadre trained on Mt. Carmel will return
to set up a pilot project in Beijing.
While at Tsinghua, Loewenstein and Gindin also gave a seminar to the
Chinese academics.
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In
This Issue:
Prof. Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, a Philosopher, Is
Elected President Says Social Responsibility Should Be a Strategic
Goal for the University
President Hayuth’s Last
Report to Governors: ‘I leave behind me … a University that is well equipped,
financially and academically, to meet the challenges ahead’
Prof. Manfred
Lahnstein Re-Elected Chairman of University’s Board of Governors
Executive
Committee Approves New Vice-Presidents
University Confers
Honorary Doctorate on Lord Jacobs, Sammy Ofer, Prof. Bernard Cohen, and Yitzhak
Ben-Aharon
Jacobs Building
Dedicated
Sammy and Aviva Ofer
Observation Gallery Dedicated
Kluger Building Dedicated
Honorary Fellow
Bestowed on Alex Samuel
Hatter, Fraenkel, and
Recanati Fellowships Awarded
Guy Bar-Oz, a
Zooarcheologist, Awarded Dusty Miller Fellowship
Werner Otto
Fellowships
Beijing and Haifa Cooperate
to Help the Aged Tsinghua University Hosts UH Contingent
Prof. David Kushner:
Expert on Turkey Reflects on His Cairo Assignment
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