Senior constituents and their caregivers focused on health care, housing, and transportation as they gathered on Tuesday at the 1st Suffolk District Health and Wellness fair at UMass Boston’s new Integrated Sciences Complex.

State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry was the host of the event at which she was joined by Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, state Rep. Nick Collins, and state Secretary of Elderly Affairs Alice Bonner.

The senator referred to herself as part of “a sandwich generation” when she addressing the seniors in attendance. The “sandwich,” she noted, represents her at-the-same-time care for her aging parents and her four young children. Given that Haitian Creole was the first language of many of the seniors at the fair, Dorcena Forry translated her remarks so that they could understand her.

Walsh discussed his administration’s efforts on the Age-Friendly Boston Initiative, which is focused on pushing for Boston to become more inclusive for the elderly. Program members are now conducting “listening sessions” in the community in order to craft an action plan.
“It’s a way for you to tell the city and the state what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong and how we can fix it,” Walsh said.
Expressing support for the initiative and the spirit behind it, Dorcena Forry said Walsh “wants to make Boston a place where you can remain.”

A contingent from AARP, which, like Dorcena Forry, is pushing for new legislation dubbed the CARE Act, made an appearance at the fair. The CARE Act would empower a patient, upon admission to a hospital, to designate a voluntary caregiver to receive medical information as well as require hospitals provide a discharge plan, which describes the medical tasks a caregiver will perform at home.

Bonner told the crowd that the CARE Act would help patients during transitions from hospitals to other environments by providing a strong support system. According to Bonner, “The Care Act could potentially prevent re-hospitalization” by providing more resources to caregivers. Bonner said the bill would “highlight the caregiver role,” but it “does not take away anything from the patient.”

Arrays of tables offered seniors information on programs and resources available to them, addressing a wide range of needs. “I was really interested in the prescription drug program,” said Jannie Worrell of Dorchester. She was able to fill out applications for the program while at the fair.

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department provided secondary identification cards to seniors. The cards, which will be distributed through Dorcena Forry’s office, provide health care information and emergency contact information, as well as basic identification. Lieutenant Abe Ayusso, from the Sheriff’s Department, said that over 100 people from the fair applied for these ID cards.

Representatives from the Codman Square Health Center answered questions about the services that their center provides. And professionals were available to help seniors with applications for open enrollment for health insurance, which will run until Dec. 7. Many people said that they specifically wanted to come to the event in order to learn about open enrollment.

Dorothy Wellington from Codman Square said she found the fair beneficial. “There were a lot of things we didn’t know,” she said, “like about AARP. And I was able to get my blood pressure checked.”
Walgreens administered roughly 30 free flu vaccines and took blood pressure measurements.

“I just snuck in and got my flu shot, so I’m all set to go,” Walsh told the crowd.