Diane Buzon had her blood pressure taken Wednesday not in a doctor's office, but at Nay Aug Park in Scranton.
The 78-year-old from Throop had the check up during the Age-Friendly Lackawanna Community Celebration.
She was at the Penn State nursing program's table, one of many set up to support the region's population of older adults with a variety of resources, social connections and activities.
“Sometimes you don't know what's available. And seeing table after table after table of things, it's good," Buzon said.
She had a bag full of resources she planned to read when she got home.
The United Way of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike hosted the event, which featured many organizations that serve the region.
Mike Castellano is special projects manager for the United Way. He said there are misconceptions about what aging means.
"Some folks think it's 65 and older. Some think 85. But we're all aging, and so our mission as a collaborative of service providers and nonprofits is to continue to initiate resources and services for those that are aging," he said.
A willingness to collaborate
Research came out in 2019 that equated the physical impacts of social isolation to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, said Christine Marcos, senior program officer from the Moses Taylor Foundation.
"The United Way of Lackawanna, Wayne and Pike and many partners who are here today really responded to our search for partners to work on that issue," she said. "What they've created is simply amazing. We witnessed the willingness of our community to collaborate and stick with that collaboration for five years and counting."
That collaboration has created a system of social isolation screenings, introduced multi-generational tech tutoring and dementia friendly initiatives, Marcos said.
The collaborative helped Lackawanna County become AARP's 10th county or city in Pennsylvania to be designated as an Age-Friendly Community.
“This celebration today is an example of an age-friendly community in action," said Jessie Pierce, executive director of the Pennsylvania Council on Aging.
And Pennsylvania is the 13th state to be designated an Age-Friendly state, she said.
Senior food insecurity a concern
Members of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic played string music while a large crowd meandered meaningfully from table to table picking up pamphlets, pens and other items meant to support them.
Chef Kim McLendon worked with the Center for Economic Opportunity's Northeast Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank to teach older adults how to make a summer citrus salad.
Representatives from the organization say food insecurity is a concern among the aging population.
McLendon tossed dark leafy greens into an aluminum table pan. They provide iron. She added beets, oranges, dried cranberries and Feta cheese, for calcium.
A small group watched as she assembled the salad. They told her to go heavy on the Feta.
She shook a squeeze bottle of dressing — a combination of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, orange juice and dijon mustard — and lightly dressed the salad.
"What we're adding to our salad are a lot of those components that are especially good for us," McLendon said.
Colleen Garrison is planning coordinator for the Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO). She said some seniors live just on social security. Processed foods are less expensive, so they might rely on that, she said.
"What we're trying to do is to let them know that there are healthier options out there for them, and they are, you know, relatively inexpensive, so it's just a matter of educating them and bringing it to light so that they know this isn't going to cost me a lot of money, but it's going to be a very healthy option," she said.
Garrison said food insecurity is an issue among the aging population.
"The food pantries we find are visited quite often by our seniors, and demonstrations like this also assist them a lot,” she said.
