Email Friend
Programs
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Health promotion and disease prevention programs and information is made available for persons age 60 and over throughout the State of Maryland. Physical and mental health risk assessments, counseling and referral, physical fitness activities and wellness education are key components of this statewide program. Area Agencies on Aging are located in every county across the state and provide a variety of health promotion activities including:
- Yoga and Tai Chi
- Falls Prevention
- Diabetes and High Blood Pressure Screening
- Hiking, Kayaking and more!
A recent addition to health promotion in Maryland is Evidence-Based Programming. These types of programs have been documented, through research, to produce improved health outcomes like reduced disability and better control of symptoms.
“Living Well: Take Charge of Your Health”
“Living Well: Take Charge of Your Health” helps people learn skills to manage their symptoms and get the most out of life. While there are many chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis and more, the problems and the symptoms associated with each one are often similar. Thanks to close cooperation between the Area Agencies on Aging and local community colleges, hospitals, YMCA’s and various community-based organizations, twelve counties throughout the state offer “Living Well: Take Charge of Your Health.” Federal, state and local funding supports this programming, as well as a generous grant from the Henry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc.
The Towson State University Center for Productive Aging has partnered with the Department of Aging to perform research on the effectiveness of our “Living Well Take Charge of Your Health” program.
More Health and Nutrition Information
- Centers for Disease Control.
- Stanford Patient Education
- Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
- National Institute of Health’s Center on Aging: Senior Health and Exercise
- Mayo Clinic
Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Waiver information and forms
Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan information
Maryland Senior Medicare Patrol
Maryland SMP (Senior Medicare Patrol) is an anti-health care fraud project administered by the Maryland Department of Aging through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration on Aging. The mission of Maryland SMP is to develop a program that enlists senior volunteers to teach Medicare and Medicaid clients how to recognize and report health care fraud, waste, abuse, or error.
What is Health Care Fraud?
Every year, health care fraud, waste, abuse and error results in the loss of billions of senior and taxpayer dollars. Examples include:
- Giving false or misleading information that benefits the health provider or service but increases consumer costs.
- Billing for Medicare or Medicaid services, medicine, equipment or supplies not prescribed, not provided or not needed.
- Offering cash, free services, or gift rewards to influence use of a particular doctor, insurance plan, HMO, home health agency, nursing home or other medical services.
- Providing care or service that is below accepted standards.
- Stopping insurance coverage or ending services without prior notice or reasonable cause.
Services Available Through SMP Include:
- Maryland Trained SMP volunteers who provide free, confidential assistance to senior Medicare and Medicaid consumers to help them learn about, identify and report health care fraud, waste, abuse or error.
- Individual counseling available in person or by phone.
- Home counseling visits for Medicare beneficiaries who are physically unable to visit a Maryland SMP service site.
- Community educational meetings to involve more seniors in the fight against health care fraud, waste, abuse or error.
- Access to information and services through an Internet Web site.
Remember: most health care professionals are honest, trustworthly, and responsible. The goal of this initiative is to weed out the few health care providers who operate with the intention of using Medicare and Medicaid as a pipeline to personal profit. The effort to prevent and detect health care fraud is a cooperative one that involves EVERYONE:
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Administration on Aging (AoA).
- Providers of services and durable medical equipment regional carriers.
- Federal, state and local agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), and the local Sheriff Offices.
- Medicare and Medicaid Beneficiaries — this means YOU!
How Can You Help?
- Report suspected cases of fraud to Maryland SMP.
- Participate in Maryland SMP counseling and educational services.
- Become a Maryland SMP Volunteer
For More Information: or to report suspected cases of fraud, waste, abuse or error, please call MDoA at 1-800-243-3425 or 410-767-1100. You can also Fax to 410-333-7943.
- Protect your Medicare and Medicaid information.
- Detect billing errors. Report potential health care fraud, waste, abuse or error.
Project SAFE (Stop Adult Financial Exploitation)
Each year, hundreds of cases of financial exploitation of older and vulnerable adults are reported in Maryland. The results can be devastating — emotionally and financially. This, however, is estimated to be only a fraction of the thousands of cases that go unreported in our state. Project SAFE (Stop Adult Financial Exploitation) offers training for the financial and law enforcement communities on how to detect and report financial exploitation, and educates older Marylanders about how to avoid financial exploitation.
Project SAFE began with Maryland Attorney General Joe Curran who took the lead in changing Maryland law to allow banks to be able to report financial exploitation to the Department of Human Resources. The Maryland Department of Aging then obtained a grant from the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention to enhance this program further. Project SAFE grew into a public/private partnership of seven different organizations which include: AARP Maryland, Maryland Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Maryland Banker's Association, Maryland Department of Human Resources, Maryland Triad/SALT Network, as well as the Maryland Department of Aging and the Office of the Attorney General.
Training materials for employees of financial institutions and law enforcement officials, and seminar manuals, brochures and a video for training older adults on avoiding financial abuse, are now available. For more information on Project SAFE, see our online brochure, or use our mail response form.
Senior Center PLUS information