“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px;”>‘Keeping it moving’ for an older person can mean the difference between being active despite aches, pains and other health conditions and being socially isolated and bedridden.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Monday through Friday activities at the Ochs Senior Center located at Heman Park Community Center in University City are geared toward making the first part of the day a special time to come together.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Special, in this case, is spelled B-I-N-G-O. It is no secret that the game is the big draw for the room full of seniors. So the center director decided to incorporate physical activity during the game.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We’d say, okay – it’s time to stretch. Then I would go around to the tables and if I didn’t see someone participating, I would hand them one of the stretch bands,” Carmen Smith, center director, said. The one-on-one prodding even got the fellows to stop being spectators and to move as well.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Exercise breaks are led by a senior volunteer – chair routines, standing and stretching and work using exercise bands.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Reviving the moving – the combination of nutrition as well as exercise – up and moving – up and doing – it’s got to be a balance,” said Gladys Hicks, MEAAA area supervisor. “It’s not a forced thing. I am so happy that I am able to see them now doing and they are excited about it and looking forward to exercise.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Hicks credits the center director for making the “bingo-cise” fun. Prizes are awarded to everyone who gets bingo and they get a choice of food staples and practical household items.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Most of the participants are University City residents that ride in on MEAAA-contracted buses each day.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The center provides what Floyd Lockridge calls “peace of mind.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I get to flirt with all the women,” Lockridge said, and for exercise, “I do a lot of walking.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Darlene Hubbard said she comes to the center to get out of the house. And what is her favorite part of the day?
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Bingo,” Hubbard said.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Other persons living outside of U-City drive to Ochs because they love this particular location. Charles Rollins of Bel-Ridge is one of the commuters.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I drive down just to be with the people down here and its something for me to do every day,” Rollins said. “I have this place as a friendship gathering.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>With input from seniors at the center, MEAAA changed up their lunch menus while maintaining strict nutrition requirements as outlined by the state and federal government.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We have a dietician on staff who reviews all the menus to make sure the potassium is correct, the calcium is correct; the vitamin C is correct – it has to do one-third of their daily requirements, Hicks said.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Keeping that in mind, we put together a beautiful plate so that they would eat together more – that’s the whole point of it all – eating more better foods,” Hicks explains. “We’re giving them some of their favorites along with what’s necessary to be a balanced meal.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Another involvement the group is gearing up for is its community gardening.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“April 11 – we’re going to be talking about seeds. We do this in combination with Castle, the community action organization. They are the ones who build all of the boxes,” Hicks said. “This year they are going to give us help – how to cook healthy, how to exercise healthy and how gardening is integral to that process.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Whether it’s tomatoes or peppers, its really up to them. They make the suggestions on heights of the planter boxes as well.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Although bingo is going to be a hard game to match, Smith said she is getting ready to do a version of the television series, “The Price Is Right.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>In addition to providing safe, social environments, nutrition and exercise opportunities for older adults, the Mid-East Area Agency on Agency focuses on diabetes management, medication management and fall prevention to make golden years productive, safe and healthy ones.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“Missouri…they are near the bottom for deaths from falls for seniors, so the state is really making an effort to decrease the amount of falls by seniors and they devised this program called ‘Steady As You Go,’” said John Gamache, public relations and resource development specialist for MEAAA. “We are presenting these at our centers.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Another way to prevent falls and injuries, MEAAA emphasizes the importance of medication management and may refer clients to get a complete assessment of what medications, herbal remedies and over-the-counter items they are taking – for possible interaction problems.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We can arrange for a pharmacist to go to a person’s home if they have a very complicated medication regimen,” Gamache said. “She specializes in geriatric pharmacy and she looks at all the medications you take – how you’re storing them; when you are taking them; if they are supposed to be taken with or without food; what non-prescription drugs you’re taking; what herbal supplements you’re taking – looks at the whole picture; writes a recommendation for their doctor then the participant can share that with their doctor.”
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Other non-medical services MEAAA can assist older adults with include transportation – to their centers and to doctor appointments, hospitals, banks, grocery stores, and to shopping centers to encourage activity.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Its Supply Bank offers incontinence supplies and nutritional supplements, and its Aging and Disability Resource Center helps find services for disabled persons. It offers caregiver assistance
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The City of St. Louis has its own Agency on Aging (SLAAA). Services for older adults include in home meal delivery that provides one-third of daily nutrition Monday through Friday for persons who cannot grocery shop or prepare meals for themselves; personal care, such as bathing, hair shampooing and shaving; household services – cooking, cleaning, laundry; and respite services in-home or at an adult daycare to give caregivers of homebound seniors a break or when the primary caregiver is away.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>SLAAA has 23 senior centers and 12 meal sites in public housing for nutrition social and physical activities. Other programs include preventive health promotion, transportation, employment training, housing, legal assistance, and an ombudsman to handle complaints of residents living in long-term care facilities.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The two agencies work collaboratively to refer residents to appropriate resources.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>In St. Louis, contact the SLAAA at 314-612-5918 or visit www.slaaa.org.
“font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>For more information on services available for older adults in St. Louis County, contact the Mid-East Area Agency on Aging by calling 636-207-1323 or http://www.mid-eastaaa.org. For St. Charles, Jefferson or Franklin counties call toll-free 1-800-AGE-6060.
