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Health & Fitness

Resolve To Help Seniors in 2012: Bring a Neighbor To Local Senior Center

A study has proved the importance of senior centers for our neighbors "aging in place."

We all seem to express an intense desire to age in the home where we live. Nobody wants to live the final days in a nursing home. Similarly, not everyone can afford to live in an assisted living facility, or a continuing care community such as The Quadrangle, Sunrise, or the new Symphony Square in Bala Cynwyd. The cost of such living arrangements is typically more than $6,000 each month.

Despite our desire to stay put, it’s all too common that an older adult lives in isolation—in a home they can no longer keep up, or afford to maintain. They spend their days watching television, anxiously waiting for the next Social Security check in order to purchase food, prescription drugs or general supplies.

Citizens of Pennsylvania are luckier than many, though. Our state lottery proceeds help to fund local senior centers, and the free transit that enables locals to attend. That’s right—the state keeps less than 3 percent of lottery ticket proceeds to run the program;  97 cents of every dollar spent on lottery tickets is returned in prizes—or for senior benefits.

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So while the odds of hitting the big number are astronomically high, seniors can at least win via the lottery—everyday—if they only took advantage of the programs open to them.

In 2008, the Jefferson Center for Applied Research on Aging and Health in Philadelphia prepared a report for the Pennsylvania Association of Senior Centers. It highlighted the important benefits provided by senior centers.

Find out what's happening in Ardmore-Merion-Wynnewoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

They include:

  • Health screenings by a staff nurse at the senior center
  • Stimulating activity that helps diminish cognitive impairment in older adults
  • Social activity that prevents or lessens depression
  • Interaction with other seniors and members of the community of all ages

The report as a Powerpoint can be found here.

The thing is, many seniors in Ardmore, Merion Station, Wynnewood and the rest of Lower Merion Township do not use the computer, diminishing their knowledge of how to connect with the local senior center.

All they need to do is call—perhaps with your help. The staff will help them get there.

That’s right: readers like you can help your senior neighbors. If you know someone who lives on your block and who may enjoy the benefits and stimulation provided at the local senior center, please let them know about it.

Most people have never visited a senior center. We have a treat for you. Dolores Capers, the Director of the PALM Senior Center in Ardmore (“Positive Aging in Lower Merion”) is willing to host Patch readers on a guided tour of the Ardmore Avenue center (it’s just across the street from the Ardmore Library).

To take the tour, click on this link.

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