Minor improvements make major difference By LESTER CHANG – TGI Staff Writer When Bernice Ragragola, a senior citizen on a fixed income who lives in a Kekaha home, fretted about how her aged home could pose a safety threat to
Minor improvements make major difference
By LESTER CHANG – TGI Staff Writer
When Bernice Ragragola, a senior citizen on a fixed income who lives in a Kekaha home, fretted about how her aged home could pose a safety threat to her, the American Association of Retired Persons came to her aid.
Volunteers replaced a screen door and window jalousie. A jar opener and another screen door will be installed later.
“It is hard for me to do this myself. I am on a fixed income,” Ragragola said. “What they did is good.”
The work was done in connection with AARP’s Independent Living Week, which is being observed nationwide from May 1 through tomorrow.
Community service and education projects in Hawai’i have been set up to demonstrate simple home modifications and to encourage adults to talk to aging parents on how to make homes safer, easier and more convenient to live in.
AARP Hawai’i has organized Kokua Corps, a group of staff and volunteers, to make homes as “fall-proof” as possible. If the repairs are not done, seniors could suffer injuries that could lead to death, according to Greg Marchildon, AARP Hawai’i state director on O’ahu.
Through the program implemented by Kaua’i chapter 654 of the AARP, senior citizens buy materials from Ace Hardware or Hale Kaua’i and have them installed at no cost by AARP volunteers, said John Hoff, president of the Kaua’i branch.
The work will allow people over the age of 65 to continue to live independently, Hoff said.
“There are up to 1,000 people who live by themselves, and they should be helped,” he said.
Joe DeMattos, the associate state director of AARP, said 7,600 people in Hawai’i over the age of 65 slipped and fell last year. Most of the mishaps occurred in the home and resulted in Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance and out-of-pocket expense totaling more than $84.5 million in health and long-term care costs, he said.
Not only is the health care cost a concern, but “the overall devastating cost has to do with the loss of independence of a person who has fallen and has become seriously injured,” DeMattos said.
AARP made the repairs at Ragragola’s home on her request, Hoff said. She bought the screen door and a window louver for $165 and had them installed last Wednesday by volunteers from AARP and the YMCA.
Because the work was donated, Ragragola saved $200 on labor, Hoff said.
Six to 12 volunteers on Kaua’i are available to make these minor improvements, most costing under $50 in materials:
- Secure carpets and throw rugs with tape, place non-skid strips on steps.
- Replace light bulbs with higher wattage, plug in nightlights, install batteries in smoke detectors and put rocker light switches at the top and bottom of dark stairwells to reduce the chance of slipping.
- Put slip-on lever handles over round doorknobs
A study conducted this year by the Lewin Group, a policy research firm in Arlington, Va., showed adult children throughout the nation worry about the ability of their adult parents to live on their own, and that adult parents are equally concerned with their ability to live independently, DeMattos said.
The problem is that many adults don’t talk with their aging parents about self-sufficiency, he said. Answers can be found, but only if both sides are willing to pursue options, including the AARP repair program, he said.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
