By: Amy Oakley
Carter County Times
The FIVCO Local Coordinating Council is welcoming community members to attend a free training event on elder abuse maltreatment. The training event will take place on Thursday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the King’s Daughters Pavilion in Ashland. There will be discussions, insights and presentations on how to not become an accidental drug dealer.
FIVCO Area Development District serves the counties of Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Greenup and Lawrence in northeastern Kentucky. The purpose of the Area Development District is to assist in areas of homecare, regional transportation, revolving loan funds, tourism and recreation, workforce development, and aging and disability services.
Nicole Davis is the Director of Aging and Social Services and has worked for FIVCO since 2019.
“The primary goal of the program that we do have are to serve older adults who have disabilities and help individuals stay independent for as long as possible,” Davis said.
FIVCO additionally contracts with a program called Northeast Community Action Agency who operate their senior centers. It is one of FIVCO’s biggest entities as they have a senior center in every county they serve.
As everyone knows the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on hold a few years ago. The pandemic has definitely changed things within FIVCO as well, especially community events.
“We like to host community events. We haven’t done them in a while since it seems like COVID killed everything. But we’re trying to get back into running different councils,” Davis said.
FIVCO used to have a larger council to prevent elder abuse, but it was also affected by the pandemic and therefore lost participation.
“For this event we’re hoping to get a bigger reach, outside of the senior centers and to make it available to the community,” Davis said.
At the end of the event, Pathways will be hosting a Narcan training presentation and discussion. Additionally, a student from St. Claire’s in Morehead will be completing a presentation on how to keep your medications safe.
“So the whole point of the event really is to inform seniors on how to keep their medication safe and community members if they take prescription drugs that could be potentially addictive,” Davis said.
The Aging and Disability Resource Center sometimes do see reports of elder abuse and neglect. Among their clients, they do see monthly reports that aren’t extremely high, however, the number is not zero.
“We try to educate the people that we serve to in-home services about scams, scam awareness, and frauds,” Davis said.
Although the pandemic has lowered attendance in previous events, they are anticipating around 200 people. Seniors who wish to attend from the senior centers FIVCO serves will be transported to the event. Agencies such as Pathways, St. Claire, Northeast and various nursing home facilities will have tables set up as well.
In addition to discussions and presentations, there will be giveaways. Each vendor was encouraged to bring a raffle item that will be raffled off in-between sessions.
Another person who has helped with this event is the district ombudsman, Amanda Hamilton.
Her job as district ombudsman is to go around to each of the nursing homes and takes complaints of abuse.
“She is not a nursing home employee, she’s an advocate for seniors. She’s been a big spearhead in helping organize the event,” Davis said.
The event will host presentations on safe medication practices, effects of opioids on long-term care facilities, and Narcan training. Discussions and insights will highlight prevention, protection, and education.
Contact the writer at news@cartercountytimes.com