The senior population of Utah has grown by 35% since 2000, making it one of
the fastest growing senior sectors in the country. With people living
longer, the number of seniors in Utah is expected to increase even more
over the next few decades. The Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) now has the
daunting task of providing services and programs for seniors to ensure that
they remain healthy and happy.
Those programs include:
-- Adult Protective Services: Protecting seniors from abuse, neglect and
exploitation.
-- Caregiver Support Program: Helping caregivers who are taking care of
family members.
-- In-Home Services: A wide array of services delivered directly to the
home in order to keep seniors living in their own homes for as long as
possible.
-- Long-Term Care Ombudsman: Advocating for the rights of residents living
in long-term care facilities.
-- Meals: Nutrition education, meals delivered to homebound seniors and
meals served at senior centers.
-- Medicaid Aging Waiver: In-home services for frail, low-income
seniors.
-- Senior Health Insurance Information Program: Better known as SHIP, it
offers unbiased counseling and information on Medicare.
-- Transportation: Helping seniors get to medical appointments, picking up
medication or taking care of personal business needs.
It is vital for all seniors in Utah to at least consider getting a medical
alert system. Such a system can help seniors remain in their own homes
longer, since they will be constantly monitored in the event of an
emergency. This could help them avoid having to move to a long-term care
facility.
So many seniors are active these days, and the medical alert industry has
recognized this. There are now small mobile medical alert devices that are
equipped with GPS and cellular technology that you can take with you
everywhere, so you will be monitored wherever you go.
There are no medical alert companies that operate solely in Utah; all
companies are national so they operate in every state. To compare the
services offered by more than a dozen top companies, click here.
Utah has a special program to honor residents who have reached the
incredible milestone of 100 years of age. The Centenarian Celebration is an
annual luncheon that gives those lucky seniors “an opportunity to shake
hands with our State’s leader and time for us younger Utahns to gain a bit
of wisdom.
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