About 300,000 seniors live in West Virginia, representing 16.2% of the
population. That is the third highest percentage of any state in the
nation. And with 27,000 Baby Boomers in West Virginia turning 60 every
year, that number will only rise over the next several years.
With such a large portion of the state’s residents reaching retirement age,
the West
Virginia Bureau of Senior Services is kept busy providing for seniors.
It does so by offering programs and services to make sure the longer lives
of seniors remain healthy and happy.
Those services include:
-- Assisted Transportation: Help getting seniors around who can no longer
drive or take public transportation.
-- Chore Services: Heavy house cleaning and yard work for seniors who can
no longer perform those tasks.
-- Consumer Protection: Protecting and educating seniors from frauds and
scams.
-- Disease Prevention and Management: Program to educate seniors about
preventing diseases and managing chronic existing ailments.
-- Family Alzheimer’s In-Home Respite (FAIR): Giving a break to the
caretakers of seniors with Alzheimer’s.
-- Health Care Promotion: A program that encourages proper nutrition and
exercise for seniors so they can remain healthy.
-- Home Delivered Meals: Prepared food delivered directly to the homes of
seniors.
-- Homemaker Services: Including meal preparation, shopping and
laundry.
-- Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program: Looking out for the rights of
residents of long-term care facilities.
-- Medicaid Personal Care: In-home personal services for frail, low-income
seniors including personal hygiene, dressing, feeding and light
housekeeping.
-- Housekeeping Services: Helping seniors with such household activities as
shopping, meal preparation, light housekeeping and laundry.
-- State Health Insurance Assistance Program: Better known as SHIP,
unbiased information and counseling on Medicare and other health insurance
issues.
-- West Virginia Senior Legal Aid: Free civil legal services and counseling
for seniors.
-- West Virginia Transition Initiative: Assistance in transitioning seniors
from long-term care facilities to their own homes.
Every senior should consider getting a medical alert system. And the
systems being offered today are far superior to those that were around even
a few years ago.
Back then, a system was connected to a traditional telephone line and was
thus was anchored to your home. Now, there are systems that are mobile,
that you can take with you wherever you go.
These devices, about the size of a deck of cards, are packed with GPS and
cellular technology. So if trouble arises, you can press your alert button
and talk to the monitor through the device itself using the cellular
technology. With the GPS, the monitor will be able to pinpoint your
location and send help right to you.
All medical alert companies operate in every state, including West
Virginia. To compare the services of the top medical alert providers, click
here.
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