Disaster Preparedness Workshops Focus on Needs of Older Adults
Evanston, Ill. (July 5, 2007) – Mather LifeWays, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating Ways to Age Well, announced that PREPARE, the organization’s award-winning disaster and emergency preparedness program will be offered in seven Ohio cities: Toledo, Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Zanesville, Jackson and Canton.
The program, created by Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging, is sponsored in Ohio by The Coalition for Emergency Preparedness and People with Disabilities, and is being offered this summer and fall. Each city location is geographically situated within one of the eight designated Ohio Homeland Security Regions.
Recent research by the United States Department of Homeland Security shows that among 75 major American cities, only six are ready for manmade or natural disasters. Mather LifeWays’ Institute on Aging created the PREPARE program to address the specific needs of the senior living industry. The two-day workshop is unique in that it focuses on staff serving long-term care communities, skilled care nursing centers, retirement communities, assisted living centers and home health care agencies.