Elderly woman gets help she needs

A social worker credited a Vindicator story for getting the word out.

Staff report

BOARDMAN — For the second time this month, police and county personnel took action after visiting a South Avenue mobile home park on a report of an elderly woman unable to care for herself.

Finding her forgetful and without sufficient edible food, they admitted her to a hospital.

A social worker from the Adult Protective Services unit of Mahoning County Job and Family Services called township police Sgt. John Allsopp on Monday afternoon.

She requested that he complete an application for emergency admission for hospitalization for the 89-year-old woman, a resident of Martin’s Trailer Park.

The same social worker had requested the emergency admission earlier this month for a 91-year-old woman who also had lived at the park. That woman, whose trailer was without heat the day of the social worker’s visit, was later admitted to a nursing home.

In the Monday case, the social worker told police that she believed the woman suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and had been known to wander around.

The social worker said that the recent investigation was a result of a Vindicator article detailing the earlier incident. The article instructed people to notify police and APS if they are aware of elderly people who may need help, a police report said.

The 89-year-old woman was unable to answer a series of questions posed by the social worker and others — including when she last ate or saw her doctor, what day it was and who the U.S. president is.

The police report also noted there was little edible food in the refrigerator.

When authorities told the woman she was going to the hospital, she told them to call her parents so they would know where she was going, the police report said.

The sergeant completed the emergency application for hospitalization, and the woman was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for evaluation. She remained at the hospital Tuesday.

Allsopp also contacted the police department’s family services case manager about the incident.

The Adult Protective Services unit provides assistance to people age 60 and older who are neglected by others, self-neglected, abused or financially exploited.

The 2000 U.S. Census reported nearly 42,000 Mahoning County residents age 65 and older. That’s 17 percent compared with a 12.5 percent U.S. average.

Four social workers in the unit serve all of Mahoning County.