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Introduction |
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Volume 1, Issue
1 |
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SAFE
Aging Newsletter |
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June 2004 |
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In This Issue:
- About the SHARP Newsletter
- Sensitivity Training
Programs
- Ask Vanessa
- Who is SAFE Aging, Inc.?
- Elder Law Attorneys: A new way to
assist your clients
- Want to Write an Article?
1. About the "Safety,
Health, and Risk Prevention (SHARP)" Newsletter
Articles in this
newsletter will be about aging safely and successfully. We will have
guest authors who have something interesting to say about age
related topics. Authors will be health care professionals,
attorneys, financial planners, safety experts, aging experts, Mom’s
and Dad’s, children of aging parents, grannies or grandpas. Our
topics will be about health and life influences, daily living, home
safety, emergency planning, fitness, health, ideas and solutions to
make aging safe and satisfying.
We hope you will find
the SHARP interesting, fun and
useful. Your suggestions are always welcomed.
—Vanessa M. Dazio, OTR/L.
(D) ABDA, Editor
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2.
Sensitivity Training Programs
SAFE Aging has unique sensitivity training programs for business
owners and operators, city and state agencies, non-profit and for
profit businesses, caregivers and individuals who need or want to
understand and personally experience age related challenges.
SAFE Aging has the unique outdoor Mobility Garden used for simulated mobility training activities.
The outdoor mobility garden is a place where sensitivity training
workshop participants can experience using assistive devices such as
wheel chairs, walkers and canes, in challenging outdoor
environments, under the supervision of trained health care
professionals and their assistants.
Participants can experience walking on an incline with a walker,
propelling a wheelchair over a bridge or around an uneven and bumpy
track; working in a garden from a wheel chair, using a scooter;
opening gates, traveling sidewalks and using curb cuts with
equipment. Physical challenges such as low vision, blindness,
paraplegia or hemiplegia, impaired sensation are simulated to
enhance the experience.
Custom programs can be developed for groups of 15 or more.
Contact SAFE Aging for more information.
info@safeaging.com
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3. Ask Vanessa
This will be a regular column, written by occupational therapist,
Vanessa M. Dazio.
Vanessa has spent much
of her professional career devoted to making life easier, safer or
more comfortable for older adults. Vanessa has worked with builders,
contractors, home owners, nursing homes, adult living facilities,
hospitals, out patient rehabilitation clinics, and home health
agencies to maximize abilities, safety and health of older or
physically challenged adults.
Vanessa will answer questions related to home safety; age related
concerns; activities of daily living, emergency preparedness; risk
identification; solutions or ideas to promote successful aging in
place; assistive devices and technology, home modifications, etc.
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4. Who is SAFE Aging,
Inc,?
We are a health and safety consultant company specializing in age
related concerns. Owner and operator is occupational therapist
Vanessa M. Dazio. We have qualified and well trained health care
professional staff available to make in home safety inspections.
Our desire is to make living at home as easy and as safe as
possible, to promote health and independence. We will identify home
barriers, hazards and unsafe conditions. We offer formal evaluations
to determine abilities which can include assessment of range of
motion, balance, mobility, daily life skills, home safety, and other
personal factors.
We can make professional recommendations based on professional
knowledge and skills in aging, disease or physical impairments, home
safety and assistive technology. Contact
SAFE Aging for more
information.
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5. Elder Law Attorneys:
The SAFESM-a
new way to assist your clients.
By Wayne K. Ekren, Attorney at Law
As an attorney counseling elders with their affairs, many factors
must be accounted for and evaluated in order to provide the most
thorough legal advice possible. Most of the time, individuals seek
counseling from attorneys in order to prepare a will, trust or to
start the process of estate planning. However, is this truly being
an advocate for the elderly? Should an attorney advocate for and
assist the elderly client to maintain the level of independence the
client desires? Very few individuals want to go to a nursing home.
As attorneys, should we be involved in assuring a safer environment
to avoid nursing home placement? As attorneys working with the
elderly do we really know the client? Do we know the hazards the
client faces on a daily basis? Is there some way to assess the
client’s ability to avoid hazards in and around their home,
providing a more secure independent environment. YES, the
SAFESM
(Safety Appraisal for Elders) is a self administered tool that
evaluates, quantifies and predicts the potential for injury from
risks and hazards surrounding the Elder. Through analysis of the
SAFESM, potential hazards can be modified or eliminated reducing the
client’s risk of injury through an educational process.
Ethically, the attorney serves the elderly client only, however,
families of the elderly client may turn to the attorney for advice
on safety and competency issues involving the elder client. This is
especially true of distant families, those where the elderly parent
or parents may be living in the warmer climates and the rest of the
family is scattered across the nation. By the attorney suggesting
the utilization of the
SAFESM, the attorney does not have direct
involvement but would be able to assist the client in facing the
issues of safety with the family. Perhaps relieving the concerns of
the family or allowing the family and client to modify or adapt the
environment for the elderly’s safety.
Attorneys have a special relationship with their clients--a
relationship of trust and confidence to provide the best legal
advice. By recommending the utilization of the
SAFESM, the attorney
can gain further insight into the client’s needs, risks, and
potential hazards, thereby enhancing the ability to make appropriate
legal recommendations for the client’s future health, wealth and
welfare.
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6. Want to Write an
Article?
We invite interested authors to submit
theme based articles for the SAFE Aging newsletter. Please send
submissions in either .doc or .rtf format, Arial 10pt. font, and
with a 300 word maximum. Articles should be written in an easy
to read format to meet the needs of a varied readership
including seniors, family members of seniors, caregivers and
other senior service providers.
Topics should in some way be related to
health, safety or injury prevention. Articles may not be an
advertisement for services and must be informative or helpful.
Author photo and contact information may be included.
There is no guarantee that submitted
articles will be published. Generally, articles will be held
until the appropriate monthly theme. All articles become the
property of SAFE Aging and are subject to editing.
Please email your submissions to
vmd@safeaging.com.
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