Ledger-Dispatch

By Helen Bonner=20

Thelma Clancy shows off the completed = isolated=20 senior packet to Candice Aubert of Common Ground, left, and Amador = Senior=20 Center Director Laurie Webb.

Photo by: Helen = Bonner
Last=20 week at the Amador Senior Center in Jackson, a high-powered coalition = met to=20 begin the distribution of information packets to seniors who have been=20 identified by themselves, their families or their neighbors as=20 "isolated."

"In a rural county like Amador, there are many such = people,=20 and often no one knows when they are in trouble until it is too late," = said=20 Thelma Clancy, chair of the Isolated Senior Task Force, which operates = under the=20 auspices of Amador County Commission on Aging.

More than a year = ago,=20 Clancy stopped at her neighbor's house near Volcano to see why she = hadn't shown=20 up for their carpool. Finding the house locked and no one answering the = door or=20 phone, Clancy called 9-1-1. Two hours later, a gathering of concerned = neighbors=20 were still waiting, circling the house, but unable to get in. A = sheriff's deputy=20 arrived, but had no legal right to break and enter a private home. = Another two=20 hours elapsed before the deputy was given permission to break in only to = find=20 the elderly woman had died some point in the night, before Clancy had = ever=20 arrived.

Further inquiry determined that neither the dispatcher = nor the=20 sheriff's office was remiss; they had responded to the call for a = "welfare=20 check." If it had been called in as a medical emergency, ambulance or = fire crews=20 would have broken into the house immediately.

But the = hypotheticals=20 pestered Clancy - what if her friend had been alive and no one could get = to her?=20 "What can we do to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else?" = Clancy=20 asked.

A year later, the answer to that question resulted in the = Isolated=20 Seniors Task Force. After much study and research, the task force = produced an=20 information packet distributed last week to representatives of several = agencies,=20 which will personally deliver them to isolated seniors throughout the=20 county.

"There are many local services of which our seniors may = not be=20 aware," said Webb, one of the distributors of the packet. "The = Commission on=20 Aging is providing a resource guide to assist isolated seniors when and = if the=20 unexpected happens."

Plugging the information gap has not been a = simple=20 task. A year ago, the coalition was created to include the Amador County = Sheriff's Office, social service agency, private home care agencies, = local=20 churches, and other outreach and support programs. The Commission on = Aging and=20 sheriff's office jointly sponsored a public workshop to determine what = policy=20 changes could be made and to publicize the appropriate use of 9-1-1 = emergency=20 systems.

Next came the challenge of locating isolated seniors = without=20 infringing on their rights to privacy. That last obstacle is still being = examined, but one outcome of the year's work has been the sheriff's = office's=20 hidden-key program, which facilitates access to homes in emergencies = such as the=20 one Clancy encountered.

With funding and assistance from Common = Ground=20 Senior Services, the information packet has also filled the = gap.

"The=20 task force has produced an attractive packet with instructions on how to = arrange=20 for a hidden-key program, as well as a resource guide listing and = explaining, in=20 large print, a plethora of services available in Amador County, all the = way from=20 emergency services, health care and support groups to legal and = financial=20 counseling," said Candice Aubert, information and assistance specialist = for=20 Common Ground. "We are pleased to support it."

In addition to the = above=20 organizations, packets will be distributed by members of the coalition: = Kathleen=20 Clark, Marj Stuart and Susan Tigner from the Commission on Aging; Amador = County=20 Transportation Commission consultant Mel Welsh; Elizabeth Thorp of = Common=20 Ground; Lynne Olson of the Office of Emergency Services; Eileen Hardy = from the=20 senior center; Lynette Monroe of Trinity Episcopal Church; Amador County = Librarian Laura Einstadter; public health nurse Lori Jagoda; Roma = Esparza from=20 United Home Care; and Janet Higgins of Adult Protective = Services.

A=20 senior or friend of an isolated senior can call 223-3015 to learn more = about the=20 isolated seniors program.

The Amador County Commission On Aging = will meet=20 tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the senior center on New York Ranch Road. These = meetings=20 are held on the third Wednesday of each month and are open to the = public. Debbie=20 Shally, a representative of the Health Insurance Counseling Program, is=20 November's featured speaker. Call 223-0442 for information.

Helen Bonner
Ledger Dispatch Contributor=20