Knowing a few basic safety skills can increase your safety and your quality of life.
Services for Seniors
What workshops are available for seniors?
What if I can’t get to a workshop?
As we get older, we sometimes find that life changes can affect our sense of safety and quality of life. What we once took for granted in terms of physical and emotional capabilities may change, and we need new ways to feel safe while continuing to live life to its fullest.
"After my husband died, I felt terribly vulnerable going out alone. Seniorpower gave my freedom back."
"While recovering from my stroke, I felt helpless. As a man, I had never known what it was like to be so vulnerable. Seniorpower showed me that, even though my body doesn’t work as well as it used to, I can still be powerful and protect myself."
What skills do seniors learn?
- Acting aware and confident
- Learning how to avoid being targeted as a victim
- Setting and protecting boundaries clearly, firmly, and politely
- Learning how to use the voice and body in threatening circumstances
- Addressing worries about safety during a home invasion
- Learning physical self defense skills appropriate for this group
How do we practice these skills?
We practice though role-plays using these skills to address issues that are relevant to the needs of elderly people, such as:
- Thinking first when people come to your door
- Self-advocacy when you are having health problems
- Managing pressures from family members and loved ones for you to give them money or other gifts
- Protecting your emotional safety from negative messages about being old
- Dealing with negative reactions when you ask for help
What workshops are available for seniors?
Because our regular workshops for adults can work well for people with a wide range of abilities and ages, seniors often participate as students in our Fullpower programs for adults.
However, we also provide workshops through organizations serving seniors such as Foster Grandparents, senior centers, adult day health care facilities, and mobile home parks. These workshops can include 1-2 Introductory Personal Safety Workshops and 3-4-hour Full-Force Self-Defense Workshops with the head-to-toe padded instructor. We also train professionals working with elderly people to integrate our program into their activities.
What if I can't get to a workshop?
Our library offers a wealth of free resources, including articles about personal safety for adults, such as Personal Safety for Seniors, Self-Protection Tips for People With Disabilities, and Boundary-Lowering Tactics to Understand.
Our e-newsletter and our blog address issues for all ages and abilities.
Our store has publications for sale including our Safety Comics for teens and adults as well as children, our cartoon-illustrated Teaching Kits, our Relationship Safety Book, and our Comprehensive Program Manuals. These materials show how to teach People Safety skills and concepts to yourself and others.
If you don’t have a Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower center close to your community, consider setting up a new one and training as an instructor.