Auditorium hosts annual Senior Health Fair

May 23-- May 23--HANFORD -- It was a productive morning for hundreds of Kings County seniors.

The third annual Senior Health Fair, organized by the Kings County Commission on Aging, took place at the Civic Auditorium Wednesday morning.

More than one hundred seniors received information on services, health tips and lifestyle advice from nearly 50 local organizations and vendors.

"I saw a lot of new faces this year, which I'm happy about," KCCOA Executive Director Bobbie Wartson said.

The event also featured aerobic demonstrations, live music from the Rollin West Band and flu shots.

Vendors contributed to gift bags for raffle winners, which included gift certificate and other items.

Representatives from the Hanford Police Department were on-hand to give seniors information on the crimes that target them which include identity theft and phone scams.

"Seniors are a huge target. In fact, many people that came through told us they received calls today regarding social security scams. So we're trying to get information out about how to handle those scams," Hanford PD dispatch supervisor Janet Gibbs said.

Gibbs said that seniors should never give out personal information to a caller they don't know and if a call seems suspicious it's best to hang up and ignore it or, if it's a call from an unknown number, to just not answer altogether.

Scammers are using local numbers and can even make it seem like they're calling from your own home phone number, Hanford PD senior dispatcher Toni Barnes said.

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Barnes added that legitimate contact from the Social Security office or from the IRS will come via certified mail, rather than a phone call. Some scammers will bluff, saying that if their target doesn't pay a falsified "debt" then they'll be arrested.

"It can be scary for [seniors] because they threaten that the police are coming for them. We're not coming," Barnes said, adding that in legitimate cases of actual criminal debt, police officers won't announce themselves before an arrest. A warning like this is clear evidence of a scam being perpetrated.

The event also featured a free pancake breakfast courtesy of the Hanford Breakfast Lions Club.

David Beeman manned the Hanford Lions Club booth, giving information on a device that could change the lives of visually-impaired seniors.

Many people may have not heard of a device called the ScripTalk Station, but it's something that many Valley seniors could use, Beeman said.

"This is about how to help save lives," he said.

The program, which is free to those who need it courtesy of many national pharmacies, installs a chip on the bottom of prescription pill bottles that, when placed on the ScripTalk Station, will read aloud the bottle's contents, how often the pills should be taken and how often.

The device could prevent a visually-impaired person from taking the wrong pill and would lead them to be more independent, no longer relying on loved ones to read pill bottles for them, Beeman said.

For more information, seniors can speak to their pharmacist or call 1-800-890-1180.

Other booths provided information on nutrition, medications, massage therapy, affordable insurance and other programs geared toward seniors.

Contact the reporter at [email protected].

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