title: V. A. Kral, the Montreal Hebrew Old People's Home, and benign senescent forgetfulness.
abstract: The term Benign Senescent Forgetfulness, introduced in 1958 by V. A. Kral, constitutes the origin of the concept of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a widely studied but controversial entity. The ambiguities surrounding MCI warrant a re-assessment of its historical origin. Any attempt at an in-depth investigation of Kral's works on that subject should begin with a description of the patient population and professional arena in the Montreal Hebrew Old People's and Sheltering Home, where Kral was a consultant. Based on archival and published sources, I describe the Home's facilities, population, staff and programmes/services, followed by an overview of the dynamic factors inducing a re-examination of its mode of operation in the mid-1950s when Kral joined the Home's professional staff as a consultant.
authors.affiliation: Margoletz Psychogeriatric Center, Ichilov Hospital, 6 Weizman Street, Tel-Aviv 64239, Israel. heinik@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Jeremia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heinik
mesh_terms: D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000266:history; D011792:Quebec