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Date: 7/5/2023
SOUTH HADLEY — The South Hadley Senior Center was packed on June 28 as the South Hadley Council on Aging hosted the Aging in Place: Health and Wellness Fair.
The event provided attendees with comprehensive information on a variety of aging in place options, equipment, devices, services and resources from the 40 different vendors on scene. South Hadley Council on Aging Executive Director Leslie Hennessey told Reminder Publishing the event was a great display of community bridging a gap for resources related to the senior community.
“I think we’ve got a really good group of folks in here that can help elders age in place,” Hennessey said.
She added the turnout was great and one of the more packed events the Senior Center has had.
Hennessey also noted she hopes those who attended were able to learn and take with them the valuable information and resources available.
This was the second year of the council putting on a health and wellness fair but this year was an improved and bigger version of the event. Hennessey said after the previous year’s rollout of different resources and information sessions for seniors aging in place, they were looking to bring everything together for more accessibility for all in catching the different resources or information available.
“We honestly believe its the best place for seniors to age in place, at home with their families or caregiver, and folks can do that. They just need a network around them, for their caregivers, their family members and for themselves,” said Hennessey.
Hennessey told Reminder Publishing leading up to the event that town support was behind the fair in order to present residents with resources that people were unaware of or did not know they had access to. She called it, “a showcase of the different community and departmental services.”
Different vendors and providers set up shop inside the Senior Center and helped attendees with things like gathering important information provided by health care professionals all related to aging in place.
There were also free raffles and other items available for attendees.
Personnel from the South Hadley Fire Department were on site and helped attendees sign up for home safety checks performed by them. These checks have a public safety officer such as a firefighter or a police officer come to the home of a senior and do a safety check of their home, recommend potential changes that need to be made for safety purposes, and will also replace smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors free of charge.
“It’s geared toward keeping residents in their home longer by obviously keeping them safe. Falls are one of the leading causes for transports to the hospital for seniors as well, so we’ve got a program where we’ll come out or do a free home safety check with them,” Fire Capt. Jason Houle said.
Houle added he had great interactions throughout the day with interested residents and feels like the message the program offers was understood.
“Sometimes people can be a little leery when having fire or police come into their home, but they realize we’re there to help keep them in the home longer. Keep them safe and allow them to age at home as long as possible,” Houle said.
Overall the day was filled with educational resources and opportunities that were taken advantage of by the community based on turnout, showing a good ongoing partnership between the town and its senior residents.