Bedford program helps elders be safe at home
MMA Innovation Award winner - award presented on Jan. 8, 2005
Bedford’s Council on Aging conceived its “Elders Safe at Home” program with a simple objective: to enable elders who live alone to do so in a way that does not jeopardize their safety.
The council did not look to state or federal agencies for support to get the program off the ground in 2003. Rather, it attracted most of its funding – $8,000 – from the residents’ association of Carlton-Willard Village, a local retirement community. An initial $2,000 came from Minuteman Home Care, an agency serving Bedford and 15 other area cities and towns. Local funding means fewer strings are attached and the town can be more flexible in meeting elders’ needs, according to Pat LeVan, co-director of the Council on Aging.
Services have ranged from installing interior rails that make it easier for elders to move about their homes, to electrical work and furnace repair, to sending in “a team of house cleaners” from the Newton-based senior services agency HouseWorks to remove excessive clutter.
In one case, the Elders Safe at Home Program acted as a pest-removal service for a woman had been having trouble with animals climbing into her chimney.
A key feature of the program is that it involves not just the Council on Aging but also the police and fire departments, the Board of Health, and other town agencies that interact with the elderly. While the Council on Aging publicized the program through its newsletter, some elders learned of it through a visit by a nurse or other personnel.
According to LeVan, the Elders Safe at Home program has helped about a dozen seniors with significant home repairs and another half-dozen with minor services such as replacing batteries in fire detectors. LeVan said the program is on course to have fully deployed its initial $10,000 sometime this summer.
The $8,000 from the residents’ association of Carlton-Willard came out of proceeds generated through its “Excess Baggage Sale,” which takes place every other year. Donald Manion, a former president of the association, declined to specify the total amount raised through the sale, but said that all of the proceeds are used to support “beneficial” purposes.
For more information, call the Bedford Council on Aging at (781) 275-6825.
Innovation award judges
Judges for the 2005 awards were Northeastern University law professor Peter Enrich and Northeastern political science professor Bruce Wallin.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
