Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: Cheyanne Bellows talks elder abuse awareness

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Talk Line: Cheyanne Bellows talks elder abuse awareness · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: All right, there, Sock Valley. You're back with the Waking
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  Speaker 1: Crew on FM ninety five to one and AM fourteen
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  Speaker 1: sixty WIXN and it's time for more talk line. I'm
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  Speaker 1: joined in the booth for the first time by Cheyenne Bellows,
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  Speaker 1: supervisor for Adult Protective Services with Lifescape Community Services. Chyenne,
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  Speaker 1: how are you this morning?
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  Speaker 2: Fantastic? How are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm great. It's always a good time in the booth
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  Speaker 1: for me. I get to play music and talk to
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  Speaker 1: awesome people like you, so it's a it's a dream job.
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  Speaker 1: But you guys can keep paying me.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thank you for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, you know, part of what I love doing
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  Speaker 1: and having folks like you on is the fantastic work
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  Speaker 1: that you're doing across the Sock Valley in so many
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  Speaker 1: different areas, and yours is you know, very rather particular
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  Speaker 1: and very much needed, and part of that having to
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  Speaker 1: do with you know, elder abuse awareness and the work
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  Speaker 1: that you do. But this is better left said by you,
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  Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit about Lifescape and you
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  Speaker 1: know the different services you offer and what you're all.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, Well, I'm the supervisor for the adult Protective Services
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  Speaker 3: through Lifescape We're located in Falls, Illinois. We've been investigating
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  Speaker 3: adult protective services well managing adult protective services since about
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  Speaker 3: twenty sixteen and we cover lee Ogle Whiteside in Carroll County.
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  Speaker 3: We investigate abuse from eighteen to fifty nine with disabilities
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  Speaker 3: and sixty and older.
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  Speaker 2: And not only does Lifescape.
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  Speaker 3: Offer adult protective services, but we also have the community
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  Speaker 3: care program where we offer homemaker services, the emergency button
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  Speaker 3: in the event that someone should fall and need help,
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  Speaker 3: and also referrals to home delivered meals. For adult protective services,
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  Speaker 3: we investigate nine types of abuse, so that can be
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  Speaker 3: ranging from self neglect to financial exploitation. Basically, with this
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  Speaker 3: World Elder Awareness Day coming up on June fifteenth, we
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  Speaker 3: just want to bring awareness to the community. You know,
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  Speaker 3: if you have a gut feeling about something or just
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  Speaker 3: you witness something and it seems a little off, you know,
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  Speaker 3: don't hesitate to call. We can guide the person through
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  Speaker 3: it and possibly offer supports that our community seniors just
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  Speaker 3: aren't aware of.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's something that's that's really needed, right, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: this is a vulnerable segment of our population, you know,
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  Speaker 1: whether that could be you know, things happening to them,
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  Speaker 1: you know, through people they know, family members, close friends,
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  Speaker 1: all the way from you know, strangers to scammers. And
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  Speaker 1: you know, abuse comes in many different forms.
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  Speaker 3: Right, absolutely, absolutely, And there's lots of times that you know,
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  Speaker 3: there's neglect that goes on and it's just the lack
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  Speaker 3: of education. You know, we're not all born natural caregivers,
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  Speaker 3: you know, and so if you have a situation where
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  Speaker 3: someone just doesn't realize that there are supports out there,
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  Speaker 3: caregiver burnout is huge.
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  Speaker 2: So that's another part.
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  Speaker 3: We just kind of offer supports to alleviate that stress
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  Speaker 3: and people through it. Because while I'm a child and
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  Speaker 3: my parents are going to get older and I'm going
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  Speaker 3: to have to be able to navigate and provide them supports.
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  Speaker 3: So just know that there are local community places that can.
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  Speaker 2: Help out with that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's something that you know you should. I
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  Speaker 1: always advocate for planning ahead, you know, looking early, so
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  Speaker 1: being able to get in contact with you folks. What's
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  Speaker 1: the best way to do that. Should they be going online,
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  Speaker 1: giving you a call and setting up an appointment if
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  Speaker 1: they're they're wanting to tap into these resources or even
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  Speaker 1: look into you know, maybe some of the investigative part
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  Speaker 1: of it. What's the best way to go do that?
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  Speaker 3: They can contact our local office eight one five four
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  Speaker 3: nine zero one one two five. You can request supports
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  Speaker 3: through that for homemaker services as well as make a
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  Speaker 3: report sure and.
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  Speaker 1: For anyone maybe who's unfamiliar with homemaker services, like what
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  Speaker 1: does that entail exactly?
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  Speaker 3: So basically it's someone we are contracted with several different
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  Speaker 3: agencies or the Illinois Department on Aging, so they have
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  Speaker 3: homemaker agencies local where you can go and apply, take
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  Speaker 3: a couple of day training. You know, they do a
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  Speaker 3: background check that type of stuff, just to ensure that
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  Speaker 3: the homemaker that's coming into the home is safe. Then
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  Speaker 3: we do a slight little assessment to just kind of
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  Speaker 3: see where their needs are, and then they're offered an
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  Speaker 3: allotment of hours per week so that homemaker can help
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  Speaker 3: with cooking, cleaning, personal care, transportation to medical appointments, picking
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  Speaker 3: up prescriptions, which is something we run into a lot,
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  Speaker 3: Like we have our seniors who aren't able to drive. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: and before they were able to deliver meds, you'd have
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  Speaker 3: somebody at home who just needed their blood pressure medication
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  Speaker 3: and there was nobody to help.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, now that's an important consideration to have and
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  Speaker 1: then that you know, kind of allows for a wide
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  Speaker 1: range because seniors, you know, can can range in needing
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  Speaker 1: different kinds of help, and so you guys have that.
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  Speaker 3: Available absolutely, and so our is even with Adult Protective
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  Speaker 3: Services the Community Care program, just to offer supports, make
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  Speaker 3: sure that people are aware that there is help out there.
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  Speaker 3: And so the more we know about it, you know,
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  Speaker 3: the more we can help.
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  Speaker 1: And you guys cover a wide range of counties, right.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, So the Lee, ogo Carol and Whiteside, and then
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  Speaker 3: we've just recently expanded with Adult Protective Services to Lake.
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  Speaker 2: County, which is huge.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and we roughly for the Rock Falls office we
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  Speaker 3: get anywhere from thirty to forty five cases a month
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  Speaker 3: and that's new cases, and Lake County is getting anywhere
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  Speaker 3: from eighty to ninety cases a month.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, wow, How do you guys keep up?
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  Speaker 3: It's rough, But it's a dedication from my staff. My supervisor,
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  Speaker 3: she oversees Rock Falls Office and Lake Charity. She's fantastic.
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  Speaker 3: My staff is amazing. It's everybody's dedicated to the work.
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  Speaker 3: It's not just about going and you know, here's these
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  Speaker 3: supports that we offer you know, they're very invested, and
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  Speaker 3: we don't always have instant gratification, you know, but over
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  Speaker 3: time we do have a lot of success stories.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, and you know, folks like you, I've commonly
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  Speaker 1: had these conversations. It's not about the instant gratification. It's
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  Speaker 1: knowing that that you're out there making a difference in
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  Speaker 1: doing what you can.
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  Speaker 2: So absolutely, so go ahead.
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  Speaker 1: How did you so? I just want to know. I
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  Speaker 1: always love it the first time I've got somebody on here.
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  Speaker 1: How did you get into this?
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  Speaker 3: Okay, So I've been with Lifescape for eight years. I
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  Speaker 3: was years before that. I was always in healthcare supervisors
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  Speaker 3: for criter like CNA work and exceptional care. Then I
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  Speaker 3: got my degree and I wasn't using it. So someone
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  Speaker 3: told me about a job at Lifescape and I started
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  Speaker 3: in the community care program first, and I did that
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  Speaker 3: for five years, and then I switched over Adult Protective
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  Speaker 3: Service as just an assistant, which I did for about
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  Speaker 3: a year or so, and then I've been a supervisor
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  Speaker 3: for a little over a year and a half.
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  Speaker 1: Now, congratulations. Did you always know you wanted to do
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  Speaker 1: healthcare or was it just that national natural progression once
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  Speaker 1: you got started.
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  Speaker 3: I've always kind of wanted to, like I take care
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  Speaker 3: of people, that's just what I do. So that when
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  Speaker 3: I discovered adult Protective Services, I could do more than
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  Speaker 3: just kind of sit back and relay the message. You know, hey,
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  Speaker 3: this is going on. So now I can go out,
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  Speaker 3: you know, boots on the ground and see what I
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  Speaker 3: can do to how.
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  Speaker 1: You wanted to be front lines.
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  Speaker 2: Well maybe a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit. Yeah, yeah, now that's starting to
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  Speaker 1: match up a little bit with you. Yeah. No, that
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  Speaker 1: that's really cool. So I'm glad that there's people like
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  Speaker 1: you that are passionate because the thing I've said about
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  Speaker 1: this so much in healthcare, because I did CNA for
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  Speaker 1: a couple years right after high school, was just trying it,
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  Speaker 1: liked it, but it wasn't something obviously that ended up
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  Speaker 1: being my long term. But what I would see in
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  Speaker 1: some people is just some people don't belong in healthcare
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  Speaker 1: because their heart's not in it, and it kind of
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  Speaker 1: it shows in the care that they give people. And
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  Speaker 1: when you're dealing with human beings, like I always say this,
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  Speaker 1: there's no shame. If it's not your bag, that's cool.
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  Speaker 1: There's plenty of things for you to go out and
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  Speaker 1: do it. That will like really resonate with you. You'll
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  Speaker 1: put your all into it. But if you're somebody who
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  Speaker 1: is working with human beings, especially in healthcare or abuse,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and anything related, if your heart's not in it,
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  Speaker 1: please get out. If your heart's calling for it. There's
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  Speaker 1: people like Cheyenne who I'm sure we'll kind of mensor
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  Speaker 1: you and bring you in because they can always use
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  Speaker 1: that kind of good support. And so that's my long
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  Speaker 1: ramble to say, I'm very happy that someone who's obviously
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  Speaker 1: this fired up and passionate about it is in one
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  Speaker 1: of these positions.
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  Speaker 2: Well, thank you, I appreciate that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, is there anything else you want to share this morning?
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  Speaker 3: Well, we are having a World All Their Abuse Awareness Day.
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  Speaker 3: We have this every year and it's on June fifteenth,
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  Speaker 3: and we're located real close to Scooters and Rock Falls,
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  Speaker 3: so they have agreed to let us park our station
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  Speaker 3: over there, so we will have a giveaway water bottles, sacks,
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  Speaker 3: and then Scooter's going to also throw in some little
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  Speaker 3: Boucher's coupons to participate as well. They're very well familiar
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  Speaker 3: with us since we are only half a block away.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, okay, well, only.
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  Speaker 2: The number one customers over there.
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  Speaker 1: Well, if I've seen, if the lines at Scooters hold
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  Speaker 1: true as they normally do, you guys won't have a
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  Speaker 1: dull moment over there.
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  Speaker 2: Oh no, just scoot around, they say.
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  Speaker 1: Well, say, and thank you so much for coming on
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  Speaker 1: the show. Is there anything we're missing on to make
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  Speaker 1: sure we cover? We got just a couple of minutes.
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  Speaker 2: Oh I believe. Oh okay, here we go.
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  Speaker 3: So eleven to two are the hours that we're having that.
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  Speaker 3: And then Scooters, in case you don't know, is located
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  Speaker 3: at four or five First Avenue in Rock Falls, and
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  Speaker 3: we look forward to seeing.
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  Speaker 1: Everybody market on your calendar. Get out, show your support. Chay,
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  Speaker 1: and thank you so much for coming on the show
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  Speaker 1: and all the fine work that you and your organization does.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates it.
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  Speaker 2: You're welcome, Thanks for having me.