Table of Contents

Yachad: Transitioning to Senior Citizenship

bullseyeProgram Goal

The purpose of this program is to provide specialized, professional mediation services to address the unique issues that arise for individuals and their families during the often sensitive, and sometimes complex, transition to senior citizenship. The goal of the program is to improve quality of life for the elderly, strengthen relationships in the family, and raise awareness among the public about the need to plan for these inevitable life changes.

partnersStrategic Partners

The Yachad Program is supported by a steering committee comprised of representatives from the National Insurance Institute, the Ken LaZaken organization, the MARVA organization, JDC Eshel, as well as representatives from civil society and the Jerusalem Municipality Senior Residents Department. Mosaica also collaborates with organizations and institutions, including the Jerusalem Municipality Social Service Office, NGOs that provide services for the elderly and their caregivers, the court system, and attorneys.

toolsMosaica's Approach

The Yachad Program works with senior citizens and their families during the most sensitive and meaningful moments of their lives. The program helps families coping with aging parents’ functional changes and increased burden of care; during times of conflict and crisis; and at significant moments when there may be a need to make medical, financial, or therapeutic decisions; change a place of residence; or reach agreements regarding guardianship or power of attorney.

The process empowers family members to actively participate in substantive decision-making and reach consensual agreements regarding their present and future needs.

The program focuses on establishing circles of support; addressing the needs and boosting resilience of the elderly and their family, community, and caregivers; empowering the elderly to make informed decisions; enhancing respect for their wishes; and strengthening relationships within families and their broader communities.

toolsServices

Mosaica’s approach to intergenerational mediation has been informed by years of experience and hundreds of cases. Yachad’s services help families plan for old age, optimize decision-making processes, cope with conflicts, and establish family agreements. The program offers:

Single-Party Coaching: A service provided to senior citizens wishing to plan for old age, or for family members who are caring and making decisions for an elderly person. A coaching session maps the needs of the party, reviews possible approaches, provides tools to improve communication, and suggests methods for managing objections. During the meeting, an action plan is formulated to address those needs, identify available resources to meet them, and recommend any follow-on services to help implement the plan.

Multi-Party Consensus Building: A preventive mediation process that facilitates dialogue between senior citizens and their family members as they make decisions and find solutions acceptable to everyone. This process is designed to prevent conflicts that may arise from addressing sensitive issues like how best to care for aging parents, arranging housing, managing finances, delegating roles and tasks, planning wills and inheritance, dividing assets, and managing the estate. Since the 2017 amendment to the Guardianship Law that legalized alternatives to guardianship, Yachad has also emphasized helping families evaluate their needs and plan for old age through methods such as continuous power of attorney and supported decision-making (SDM).

Intergenerational Mediation: A mediation intervention that assists families to resolve conflicts, plan and prepare effectively for aging, make consensual decisions, and draft family agreements. Mediations may address the manner of care and living conditions for the elderly parent; appointment of guardians and alternatives such as continuous power of attorney and supported decision-making (SDM); division of family roles; drafting of a will, estate management, and division of assets; and many other matters that may arise during critical moments.

toolsDisseminating the Model

The Yachad Program disseminates this model to professionals who work with this population and their families, the courts, and directly to the elderly through lectures and events. The program is also expanding the number of mediators who specialize in intergenerational mediation, provides coaching for family caregivers, offers courses, and collaborates with community mediation and dialogue centers across the country.

document Case Study

Have you ever heard the phrase, “the operation was successful, but the patient died”?

That is exactly what happened to the family that turned to Mosaica for intergenerational mediation after a legal proceeding regarding their inheritance had been completed. During the proceeding, one party emerged victorious, but family relationships were destroyed in the process: in effect, the “patient” died. This case, like so many others, demonstrates the high price, not only financial, paid by family members who take legal action against their kin.

However, in this case, one member of family refused to give up. Despite his grievances, he contacted Mosaica for mediation in order to restore the relationships destroyed by his legal “victory.” Additional family members agreed to join the process, saying that they had nothing left to lose, as the world’s most precious resource – that of family – had already been lost. The family was no longer what it used to be; it had collapsed.

toolsResearch

During 2019-2020, a qualitative study was conducted in collaboration with a research team from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The study group revealed many previously unexamined details about family dynamics and the complex issues connected with aging for the person and their families. Participants affirmed the utility of various interventions offered during program mediations, specifically those designed to help manage family disputes, bridge rifts, and solve dilemmas that enabled them to reach agreements on previously unresolvable issues.

Participants reported a high degree of satisfaction with the process: some went so far as to say that the mediation “saved their lives,” while others reported that it vastly improved their quality of life, moderated family conflicts, and more generally improved relationships within the family.

teamProgram Staff

Limor Aton

Limor Aton earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from The Open University and a Master’s in Conflict Resolution, Management and Negotiation from The Hebrew University.

 

She is also an experienced mediator who specializes in intergenerational mediation and organizational mediation. And is also an experienced facilitator of trainings, workshops and mediation courses and has gained expertise in content development.

 

She leads the department of Intergenerational Mediation at Mosaica and helped to develop the model for this type of mediation with the Mosaica team facilitating mediations as well as teaching the model nationwide. She also developed and teaches a model for training family caregivers dealing with disputes, fatigue, and overload. Additionally, she facilitates the Mosaica basic mediation course in which she trains new mediators.

For more information, please contact:

gishur@mosaica.org.il