About 700,000 people over the age of 65 live in Alabama. That number is only expected to skyrocket over the next few decades as baby boomers retire and live longer lives. In order to keep up with the expected growth, the Alabama Department of Senior Services (ADSS) offers a wide array of programs and services for the state?s seniors.
Those services include:
-- Congregate and Home Delivered Meals: Meals served in a group setting or delivered directly to the homes of seniors.
-- Disaster Preparedness: With Alabama susceptible to hurricanes and tornadoes, this program educates seniors on how to be prepared for such natural disasters.
-- Elder Abuse Information & Prevention: Educating seniors about abuse and neglect and how they can avoid becoming victims.
-- Elder Justice & Advocacy Program: Operated by ADSS, it makes advocates and makes sure seniors understand their legal rights.
-- Long-Term Care Ombudsman: Advocating for residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term residences.
-- Nutrition Education: Healthy eating education for seniors.
-- Personal Choices: A program that gives ailing seniors more choice in the type of care they receive.
-- Senior Employment: Job training and placement for low-income seniors.
-- Senior Medicare Patrol: Teaching seniors about Medicare fraud.
-- SenioRx: Helping seniors pay for prescription drugs.
-- State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP): Unbiased volunteers answer questions and provide valuable information on Medicare.
It is not a program offered by the state of Alabama, but every senior should at least consider obtaining a medical alert system for their home.
In addition to possibly saving your life someday, there are now medical alert systems that you can take with you so you can be covered wherever you do. The device, about the size of a deck of cards, has GPS and cellular technology built into it so a monitor can pinpoint your location and send help right to you if needed.
To compare the services from some of the top medical alert providers, click this link.
An Olympic Games for seniors? They have one in Alabama.
Called the Masters Games of Alabama, it is an annual contest of various recreational and sporting events. They include traditional events such as running and swimming, but there is also a Frisbee Throw, a Nerfball Throw and Line Dancing.
The games are “dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles for active adults age 50 and over through social, mental, and physical activities. They were developed in Oxford, AL in 1990 to provide adults age 50 and above an opportunity to maintain an active lifestyle by participating in a variety of events. While the games provide an Olympic-type atmosphere, the focus is not on competition, but fun and fellowship.”
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