Porter County Triad hosted its annual Senior Health Fair at William E. Urschel Pavilion in downtown Valparaiso, inviting the senior community and the community at large to explore dozens of healthcare providers, learn about each vendor’s services, and enjoy free goodies and raffle prizes. Attendees picked up lunches from VNA Hospice NWI, grabbed a cup of joe from Dunkin’ Donuts, and perused the nearly 40 vendor booths lining the pavilion.
PORTER COUNTY TRIAD SENIOR HEALTH FAIR RAISES MONEY FOR PROJECT LIFESAVER, EDUCATES COMMUNITY
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“This event is huge for Triad because we want to get out and educate our seniors. We’re happy to have this big of a group and all these wonderful vendors with all types of different services for them. It's about education, especially Project Lifesaver,” said Triad President and Dunes Hospice Marketing Liaison Cathy Ellis.
To reserve their spot at the Senior Health Fair, vendors paid a fee that was then donated to the Porter County Sheriff’s Department for Project Lifesaver so they could give those bracelets to people who need them free of charge. Project Lifesaver is a GPS bracelet device for people with dementia, autism, or other conditions that could lend themselves to dangerous situations in the event they get lost.
“If you walk up to somebody to ask if they are okay and they can’t answer you, that’s the person who should have Project Lifesaver. If they can’t answer to say, ‘I’m okay’ or ‘I live at this address,’ those are the people we want to help,” said Life Care Center of Valparaiso Director of Business Development Angela Monahan.
As a demonstration of how effective Project Lifesaver can be, the Senior Health Fair hosted Find the Sheriff which is a race between a group using a Project Lifesaver GPS bracelet and a group using K-9 units to see who can track down the sheriff in his hiding spot first. While the K-9s were efficient and successful in locating the sheriff, Project Lifesaver accomplished the task faster.
While Find the Sheriff is certainly a highlight of the Senior Health Fair every year, vendors were equally excited to showcase their services.
Marketing and Resource Director Valerie Martinez from Porter County Aging and Community Services (PCACS) was eager to touch base with everyone who visited the PCACS booth and educate them on the offerings they may have yet to discover.
“Our transportation program is our biggest service, but people may not know that we have a medical loan closet, so you're able to come and get free medical equipment if you need it like walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, canes, shower seats, and things like that. Everything is free of charge,” Martinez said.
Heart to Heart Hospice Community Education Representative Judy Kukelka connected with visitors about Heart to Heart’s volunteer program, passed out family handbooks, and spoke to visitors about the importance of early detection.
“I have been in the healthcare industry for over 15 years, and most of the families that we work with come in during a time of panic whether it's for hospice, assisted living, independent living, or another service that is offered here,” Kukelka said. “What we’re trying to do is get that information out there so that the seniors or their primary caregivers know that it's available to them before that crisis situation. That way they can be planning and having these conversations prior to the crisis situation.”
Whether attendees were senior citizens themselves or wanted to learn more about how to safeguard their loved ones, the Senior Health Fair introduced them to a host of services to promote overall health.
“I think it's great that people are recognizing that older adults do have their own set of issues that need to be addressed and that the community needs to come together for our older adult population just as much as we need to for our youth,” said Older Adult Grant Project Director Angela Wehner from Porter-Starke Services.
For more information about Life Care Center of Valparaiso, visit its website here.