By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Old age is not the equivalent of being obsolete, according to Denise Niese, executive director of the Wood County Committee on Aging. That attitude led Niese to her career in gerontology.
“I always enjoyed the population,” Niese said. “This is back when people didn’t know how to spell gerontology – let alone have degrees in it.”
That attitude has now led Niese to an award from the Ohio Association of Senior Citizens named after a predecessor in her profession – Muriel Bertsch.
“She was an amazing woman,” Niese said of Bertsch, the founder of the first senior center in Ohio in 1954. The facility – called Partners in Prime – is still in existence. Bertsch also was instrumental in passage of the Older Americans Act in 1965.
“She advocated for seniors,” Niese said. “She was a community organizer before community organizing was a vocation.”
And now Niese has received an award for following in Bertsch’s footsteps.
“We would like to honor you for all you have done to protect Ohio’s most vulnerable persons, including our senior citizens,” the Ohio Association of Senior Citizens wrote to Niese.
Niese took over as director of the Wood County Senior Center in 2005. She not only enjoys the population she serves, but also the administration and policies involved.
“That reinforces why you are doing what you do,” she said. “Our constituents are apt to let us know if we’re not doing it right.”
The needs of seniors have changed just in the time Niese has been in the profession. The population is growing, and the changes in health insurance often send seniors home from the hospital when they still have significant needs. So there is more demand for medical services and physical accommodations in seniors’ homes.
Many seniors are more willing to have assessments done to make sure they stay mentally sharp. Many more are staying home longer, so they need home-delivered meals.
Programming has to meet a broad swath of needs – from exercises for 50-year-olds, to meals for those over age 100.
“It’s a wider spectrum in age than we’ve ever programmed for in the past,” Niese said.
Niese has advocated for that range of programming – and for a new senior center in Bowling Green to meet those needs. The center, which could open in 2020, will include more room for activities like bridge, shuffleboard, tai chi, yoga, painting and a writing club. There will also be respite care for people with dementia, and a “memory café.”
“Today’s seniors are very different from when I started,” she said.
And Niese intends to keep advocating for their needs as they continue to change.
