News
Meriden Health & Human Services Department News
Web Site:
http://www.meridenhealth.com
165 Miller St.,
Meriden, CT 06450
Tel: (203) 630-4226
Fax: (203) 639-0039
MDHHS is committed to improving the quality of life for all it serves through the promotion of health, prevention of disease, and by assuring a safe and clean environment.
View all News Articles for Meriden Health & Human Services Department
Keeping Meriden Seniors Safe At Home: Injury Prevention Program
September 29, 2014
The Meriden Department of Health and Human Services has received funding to provide an injury prevention program for Meriden seniors living at home. This program began in September and will be facilitated through the Meriden Senior Center. Funding is provided through the Connecticut Department of Public Health Preventative Health Block Grant. Preventing unintentional injury in the home is a priority for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, as listed in their Healthy Connecticut 2020 State Health Improvement Plan.The goal of this program is to make the home a healthier, safer place to live for our senior population. The Meriden Senior Center has partnered with several local businesses that provide home visits to seniors. The target population is seniors who are still living in their home (not in an assisted living facility) and are receiving some sort of home care.
A staff person from the partner agency will help the senior complete a brief Home Safety Assessment; this asks questions addressing home safety, the prevention of slips, trips, and falls, and emergency preparedness. The completed questionnaire is then returned to the Senior Center where staff will fill a re-usable bag with home safety items determined by the answers on the questionnaire. Items can include a smoke detector, CO2 detector, rug grips, first aid kit, File of Life emergency contact list, and night lights.
There is no cost to the agency or the senior to participate in this program. Our goal is to reach 100 households. There are no income requirements; the only requirement is that the senior live in Meriden and that the questionnaire be completed in the home.
This program has been done in the past for unintentional injury prevention among children with great success; in one year we were able to distribute over 125 safety bags to families!
We are still looking for more partner agencies in Meriden. The Senior Center will also be holding a fall prevention seminar for seniors and senior care centers in the spring. For more information about this program you can reach Rick Liegl, Senior Affairs Administrator at 203-237-0066 or rliegl@meridenct.gov, or Lea Crown, Associate Director of Health, at 203-360-4238 or lcrown@meridenct.gov.
Member News is provided as a service of the Midstate Chamber of Commerce and is also featured in the monthly "Chamber News" newsletter mailed to members.
The “original publication date” of Member News articles posted on this web site reflects the date this article was added to the Chamber database and may not necessarily reflect the date such news events occurred.