Contact:
Elizabeth Blevins, Director, Office of Communications
Phyllis Noah, Communications Coordinator
Office: (740) 351-3810; FAX: (740) 351-3179; Cell: (740) 464-4854
940 Second Street – Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
E-mail: eblevins@shawnee.edu or pnoah@shawnee.edu
Web site: www.shawnee.edu

SHIP changes name to reflect purpose

            The Senior Home Inspection Program has changed the name to Senior Home Information Program, to better reflect the services provided. Shawnee State University Master of Occupational Therapy students have been working with the program from the time it started in October 2007 in Ross County.
            SHIP is a free home safety program to help Senior Citizens stay safely in their homes. It was first introduced in Ross County by Lt. Dale Gillette who was with the Ross County Sheriff’s Department. In 2009, the program was introduced in Scioto County.
            The program not only provides free home inspections for anyone over the age of 60, but it also provides safety equipment, such as smoke detectors.
            “We have completed 176 homes in Ross County and in Scioto County which we just started in June 2009, we have completed 41 homes,” said Chris Raber, associate professor in the MOT program. “The program has been a big benefit for the participants.”
            Four classes of students in the MOT program have completed their practicum in the SHIP program. The visits provide seniors with valuable information and services to make their homes safer. The follow-up satisfaction surveys have been very favorable from the seniors, Raber said.
            “I had a great experience on my SHIP visits,” said MOT student Betty Dyer who will graduate from the program in December. “The opportunity allows students to experience firsthand the impact of community involvement. The best part of the program is meeting the seniors, providing them with safety devices, giving them printed material to educate them and knowing that we may have influenced and inspired others along the way.”