Local organization helping seniors be a little less lonely this holiday season
Just a short phone conversation can make all the difference.
A local organization says a simple phone call and a conversation goes a long way to helping senior citizens all alone this Christmas season.
and last updated 2020-12-17 17:54:44-05
PINELLAS CO, Fla- â Due to the Pandemic, hundreds of Bay area senior citizens will be forced to spend Christmas without their family this year.
But a local organization is making sure they re not totally alone. This year, 2020 has really thrown seniors for a loop, said Ann-Marie Winter.
Winter is the executive director for the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco/Pinellas.
Tablets available to help Alzheimerâs patients in Florida By Ashleigh Walters | December 17, 2020 at 5:15 AM EST - Updated December 17 at 8:48 AM
Patients and caregivers with forms of Alzheimerâs disease and dementia living at home can apply for a tablet filled with resources, as part of an extension to an ongoing program in Florida. The goal is to lessen isolation and help to ease concerns. Project VITAL at Home is run through the Alzheimerâs Association, the State of Floridaâs Department of Elder Affairs, and iN2L. The program rolled out 600 tablets in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the spring of 2020, to help combat symptoms of restlessness, anxiousness and isolation.
Florida has achieved a new distinction, but not a coveted one. The AARP Public Policy Institute reports that Florida is #51, at the very bottom, compared to all the states and the District of Columbia, in care it provides for frail, poor and middle class old people. This finding is reported in AARP’s recently released Long-Term Services and Supports State Scorecard 2020.
The report talks about long-term support and services, known as LTSS the very services many older adults need to stay in their homes safely and with dignity as they age. These services consist of “day-to-day help needed by people with long-term conditions, disabilities, or frailty. It can include personal care (bathing, dressing, toileting); complex care (medications, wound care); help with housekeeping, transportation, paying bills, and meals; and other ongoing social services.” LTSS also include supportive services provided to family members and other unpaid caregivers.
The Alzheimerâs Association, along with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and senior engagement technology provider iN2L, has announced the launch of Project VITAL at Home, a new and innovative program specially
designed for those living with lzheimerâs disease or another dementia and their caregivers. Through Project VITAL at Home, participants will receive a wealth of engagement
opportunities with an iN2L tablet and have direct access to the live and on-demand support and education programs of the Alzheimerâs
Association.
âThere are more than 580,000 Floridians living with Alzheimerâs and 1.2 million caregivers providing unpaid support to those individuals,â said Julie Shatzer, vice president of programs for the Florida region of the Alzheimerâs Association. âSocial isolation and boredom are particular challenges for those living with Alzheimerâs and other dementias, as well as their caregivers. Having a way to provide purpos
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A campaign in Hillsborough County is reaching out to seniors this holiday season to provide support in times of isolation and loneliness. (Shutterstock)
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL The holidays can be a lonely time for seniors, especially during the coronavirus pandemic when many choose to isolate themselves to decrease their chances at exposure to coronavirus.
Local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are working together to make sure no senior feels alone this holiday season. Together Apart: Holidays at Heart Campaign is a Senior Connection Center, Inc., partnership with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) that is reaching out to seniors in Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties to see how they are doing and ensure they are aware of the resources available to them.