Retirement News : Seniors : Program helps seniors living on their own

Program helps seniors living on their own

Date Added: 15-04-2005

Many seniors live in their own homes and are determined to be independent for as long as they can.

But if they don't have family or friends nearby, they can become isolated.

Now, a new program is training utilities workers, mail carriers and garbage collectors to watch for seniors who may be in trouble.

It is called Senior Connect.

People involved in the program watch for signs indicating the seniors could be in trouble.

They keep an eye on their house and pay attention to how they are acting and what they are saying.

Statistics show there are as many as 25-thousand seniors in Calgary likely in need of some sort of a helping hand.

Many seniors say they are glad to know there are people in the community keeping an eye on them.

Anyone concerned about someone, contacts a registered social worker with the program.

They make contact with the senior to make sure they are okay.

Inspiration for the program started a few years ago when a Calgary senior was found in his Ogden home.

He had been dead for three months, despite a pile of newspapers and unpaid bills outside his door.

There are 45-hundred trained so-called Connectors in the city.

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