This article appeared in the 2008 Healthwatch magazine, a publication of the Southeast Missourian. Copies are available at the Missourian's Jackson and Cape Girardeau offices during normal business hours.

An annual senior report released by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's office reported on health and well-being statistics on the nearly 10,000 seniors in Cape Girardeau County. The report, which comes out each December, looks at indicators that include everything from income to education to health status.

The report reflects that agencies in Cape Girardeau County are making progress in health. One indication of improvement is that seniors in 2007 made fewer trips to hospitals and emergency rooms for diabetes. Compilers of the report used diabetes in hospitals as a guide mark because diabetes is often the source of other health issues.

Using information from the senior report, the local Committee of Aging through the United Way was able to recommend that local physicians have nurses in their office who are trained to teach diabetic patients what they need to know as soon as they are diagnosed, said Helen Sander, chairwoman of the committee and volunteer coordinator with the Visiting Nurses Association in Sikeston, Mo.

"The nurses are doing a fantastic job," Sander said. "People are learning they don't want to go to the hospital to have an amputation. They would rather take care of themselves at home and prevent that."

The more seniors know about their health and how to take care of themselves, the less the taxpayers have to pay for hospital costs through Medicaid. Ruth Dockins of the SEMO Area Agency on Aging said that rural counties, especially in the Bootheel, have shown a willingness to learn as much as possible about promoting wellness among their residents. The Area Agency on Aging serves 18 counties, Dockins said, and more and more requests for health information are coming from poor, rural areas. "We're looking at ways to help seniors living in their own homes, doing programs on how to control high blood pressure and obesity," Dockins said.

One way to promote good health among the elderly, she said, is to get as much information out as possible to community leaders throughout the state.

"We're making sure everybody is aware," she said. "Hopefully they'll take it and address some of these issues."

Recently, she said, the agency met with leaders in New Madrid County who wanted information on the MissouriRX prescription program and indicated future interest in such other meetings as smoking cessation, cholesterol and cancer screenings, and obesity.

"There is a growing number of obese individuals in Southeast Missouri, and it's worse than any other part of the state," Sander said. "That tells us things we need to do."