21st Century Making Prevention Work; For Older Americans As people age their bodies respond differently to alcohol and medications. Making Prevention Work; For Older Americans is a local initiative designed to provide education and prevention services to older adults addressing the use and misuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, tobacco and herbal supplements. In addition, this program provides educational services to health care professionals, the families and caregivers of older adults and promotes community awareness of these issues. This initiative delivers these services through a variety of programs; educational articles in Helping HANDS, community presentations and Prevention Bingo. The HANDS Foundation serves as a local resource for referrals, information and assistance. This project is a collaborative effort between the HANDS Foundation and numerous local agencies. Funding for this program is provided by the Medina County Drug Abuse Commission (MCDAC).
www.MCDAC.com Screen Ohio's Seniors In 2008 a collaborative comprised of Medina General Hospital, Catholic Charities, Wadsworth Center for Older Adults, Cornerstone Wellness, Inc. and the HANDS Foundation received a grant from the Older Ohioans Behavioral Health Network to gather data from seniors as it related to aging, alcohol, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, herbal supplements and tobacco using a diagnostic screening tool. These five organizations worked closely together to examine the current state of older adults and substance use/abuse problems in Medina County. Working together the collaborative developed a tool to help identify risk factors in older adults that could help caregivers and service providers better identify those older adults needing further intervention. This project afforded the collaborative an opportunity to gather baseline data on older adults in Medina County for the sake of comparison to national trends. The SOS initiative established the beginning of community efforts to better define a clinical pathway of intervention for older adults who indicate through screening risk factors indicating medication or substance abuse related problems. 2008 Final Grant Report In 2009 building upon the success of the 2008 Older Ohioans Behavioral Health Network grant, the Screen Ohio's Seniors initiative will gather data and solicit feedback on the screening tool to further define the next steps in establishing a clinical pathway addressing the use/misuse of substances by older adults. A component of the grant is to provide Web access to educational materials, the screening tool and Web-based training. Special Web-Based Training Opportunity http://cme.health.pitt.edu Quick Screen for Healthcare Providers Quick Screen - Self Administered The HANDS Foundation has prepared a list of resources for older adults can go for help. Please click on the link below. Where to go for help? Where to go for help Nationally?
To Learn More Contact Sandy Calvert Program Director