In Hazard, Kentucky, volunteers are refurbishing used wheelchairs and other assistive equipment, and giving them to community members for free. So far, the program has provided more than $3.5 million worth of equipment to those in need.

Dr. Patrick Kitzman, professor of physical therapy at the University of Kentucky and director of Kentucky Appalachian Rural Rehabilitation Network, said for many rural residents, the costs of wheelchairs, walkers, bath benches and other products can run into the hundreds of dollars, either with a copay or without insurance.

"And what folks usually don't realize is when you have a wheelchair purchased by insurance, you're only allowed to get one wheelchair every five years," Kitzman pointed out. "A wheelchair takes a lot of beating, so many of our folks need that second wheelchair at home to help them."

Kitzman and his colleagues are the recent recipients of a more than $8,000 dollar AARP Community Challenge grant. He noted the money will help the shop purchase new workbenches, a 3D printer, pipe benders, and a drill press, in order to better tailor equipment to individual users' needs and develop new prototype parts.

He noted the service learning program, called Coordinating and Assisting the Reuse of Assistive Technology: Together One Priority (CARAT-TOP) trains college students, high-schoolers, and volunteers on how to repair equipment.

"We determine what needs to be tightened, what needs to be cleaned, what needs to be replaced," Kitzman outlined. "We usually have two students working on each piece of equipment to make sure there's always accountability."

Kitzman added losing access to or not having functioning assistive equipment can be life-altering for the individuals who rely on them.

"If your wheelchair breaks, you are not able to participate in the community," Kitzman stressed. "You can't go to church, go shopping. If you have a job, it decreases your ability to get to your employment. So, it's a big deal."

CARAT-TOP is part of the largest group of grantees to date with more than $3 million awarded among 260 community-based groups nationwide.

Older Idahoans have an opportunity to speak with Governor Brad Little next week.

AARP Idaho is hosting a telephone town hall with the governor, providing an opportunity for members to ask questions ahead of the 2025 legislative session.

State Director of AARP Idaho Lupe Wissel said people could have questions about health care, housing affordability, or property taxes, for instance.

"It's a very unique opportunity and one that is not offered to everyone," said Wissel, "and we do this regularly because it is very important that the elected officials do hear the voices of the 50+ community in this state."

The Idaho legislative session starts on January 6. The town hall will be held on November 25 at 3 p.m. Mountain time, 2 p.m. Pacific.

People can join at 866-767-0637 or online at AARP Idaho's Facebook page.

Wissel said AARP Idaho holds town halls with the state's leaders on a regular basis. She said elected officials know it's important to hear from older Idahoans.

"They know that this is a big constituency, large constituency," said Wissel. "They really pay attention to what's happening and they want to make sure that their voices are heard, and they want to listen to what they have to say."

Wissel noted that older Idahoans make up a large voting bloc in the state. She said in the 2022 election, people age 50 and older were 64% of the electorate.

Nearly 630,000 Idahoans are 50 and older.

The Iowa Alzheimer's Association chapter is making new resources available to caregivers during November, a month set aside to educate and help people with the disease and those who care for them.

Nearly 100,000 Iowans are family caregivers, helping more than 62,000 people living with this form of dementia.

Erica Eikern - program manager with the Alzheimer's Association, Iowa chapter - said the group is making a huge effort this month in particular to get resources to those caregivers, letting them know they are not alone.

"We have approximately 50 local caregiver support groups, in many communities across the state of Iowa," said Eikern. "We also have a virtual support group that we just started for young adult caregivers who are taking care of a parent or older family member."

Nationally, nearly half of all caregivers who provide help to older adults are doing so for someone with Alzheimer's disease, according to data on the association's facts and figures website.

Eikern said the association is working at the state level to give those caregivers some respite options.

Eikern said caring for a person with Alzheimer's can take a heavy physical and emotional toll. So, she said the association is trying to make sure they know help is available.

"At our Iowa chapter, we're averaging about 30 programs that we're doing per month, out in various communities throughout the state," said Eikern. "We have a goal of trying to reach everyone in all 99 counties through our awareness presentations, through support services."

Those resources are also available on the association's website.

More than 11 million people in the U.S. are providing unpaid care to a person living with Alzheimer's or other form of dementia. Last year alone, that care was valued at more than $346 billion.




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By Eduardo Miranda Strobel / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State NewsLab-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Adults 55 and older compose 23% of Ohio's workforce, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

This population will peak between now and 2030, said Kelly Fuller, senior vice president of the Columbus Chamber Foundation.

"The number of older workers are increasing in Ohio," Fuller said. "In fact, when you look at Ohio compared to other states across the nation, we skew a bit higher."

Older workers benefit the state in several ways, said Jamie Carmichael, chief program officer of the Ohio Department of Aging. They contribute expertise gained over years of life and labor. They have developed qualities like patience, a strong work ethic and a high level of motivation driven by personal achievement.

"Employers in Ohio really do have an opportunity to leverage those strengths together to support their business goals," Carmichael said. "So older adults, that baby boomer generation, is really known for valuing hard work. They work well with leaders who are coaches. They have really strong interpersonal skills and value that interpersonal communication."

Carmichael said there are myths regarding older adults in the workforce that can harm their employment. She said that a misconception is, for example, that older workers are frequently sick and less productive, but in reality, they use fewer sick days than their younger counterparts.

"There's a number of, I think, misconceptions that we're working here at [the Ohio Department of Aging] to help people overcome," she said.

Fuller said employers may need to consider creating accommodation policies to address how aging affects people's bodies differently. She said they could adapt a job done standing to be done seated through part of it or an on-site position to be done remotely or hybrid.

"A lot of older workers are looking for very much the same thing all-age workers are looking for, which is that flexibility in the workforce, in the workplace, which we saw really go into overdrive from 2020 to the present time, where regardless of what age we are, that flexibility is really important because it allows us to maintain a good life-work balance," Fuller said.

As retirement-age Ohioans choose to return or continue to work, some resources can help them adapt.

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides paid training to Ohioans 55 and older who want to return to the workforce, said LaTasha Johnson, the Youngstown regional workforce development manager for VANTAGE Aging.

The program is a partnership between VANTAGE Aging, the Ohio Department of Aging and other organizations. SCSEP places participants in part-time roles at local non-profit and public organizations, earning minimum wage while gaining work experience.

"Most older workers want to only work part-time, and I think there's nothing wrong with that," Johnson said. "They've put in their work for many years, and more employers could be more accommodating with just being a little bit more flexible and less rigid with the traditional work hours."

Johnson said the program updates older adults' skills and assists them with obtaining recent work experience to make them more qualified for employers.

"Our hope is that everyone would leave our program with resume, job search skills, things like that," she said. "So they're job-ready when they do eventually leave our program and find employment."

Johnson said she found through her research that some benefits of hiring older workers are their communication skills, reliability and willingness to learn. She said these workers tend to switch jobs less than younger workers.

Carmichael said employers should learn to recognize that those later in their careers have years of experience to offer and can help mentor younger workers. She said putting older workers in mentorship is an effective strategy that helps them feel connected to the workplace.
"Employment isn't just about income, right? It's about the dignity of work," Carmichael said. "It's about social connectedness and mental health. And so we want to create those opportunities as much as we can."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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