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Cultural tradition and elder care in Detroit’s Arab American community

CTN News

 

Seven seniors attending the Islamic Center of America (ICA) programming play Twister. Photo: Donna Jawad

By Lucas Resetar, special for The Arab American News and New Michigan Media

In the year 2000, 11-year-old Marwan Mikhael left Iraq with his father. After crossing into Jordan and enduring a difficult and dangerous journey, he ended up at a small refugee camp in Bulgaria.

“There was no food and little water,” Mikhael said. “I wasn’t able to connect with my mother for six months. It was a horrible place.”

Mikhael said that the only solace he had was the nearby senior homes.

“The seniors used to love me, take care of me, hug me, give me stuff to eat. They were the only ones who gave me hope.”

Eventually Mikhael left the camp, but he took his memory of the seniors with him.

“We were always thinking of giving something back to them,” he said. Today, Mikhael is the owner of M&S Homecare, an in-home elder care business based in Sterling Heights.

The provision of appropriate care for Arab American seniors in Metro Detroit is a complex and multifaceted task requiring dynamic approaches, but Mikhael’s personal connection to the field represents a component shared by many of those drawn to it.

The Michigan Center for Contextual Factors of Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD) hosted a town hall in Dearborn recently. Residents congregated to speak from their personal experience and contribute to the conversation of how to provide care to seniors in the Arab community.

People with backgrounds in healthcare, research and family caregiving spoke and, although perspectives varied, the disagreement between the community’s cultural expectations and the practices of clinical treatment were consistently recognized to be one of the community’s greatest inhibitors to elder care.

Just as many of those working in the field of caregiving are drawn because of a personal connection to it, many of the Arab American seniors engaging with their services look for a…

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