Free Positive Aging Workshops Set for Millersburg Starting May 6

Adults 60 and older in Millersburg will have a free chance to pick up practical advice on staying healthy, active and safe when the Positive Aging Workshop series begins May 6. The four-week program is set for Older Americans Month and is aimed at seniors, caregivers and adult children who help with daily decisions, home safety and medical care.

The workshops are being sponsored by the Falls Prevention Program of Holmes & Wayne and the Standing Against Falls Coalition, tying the series to Holmes County’s public health system rather than a one-time community event. Kerry MacQueen, the health district’s falls prevention coordinator and injury prevention coordinator, is the local organizer leading that effort. The Holmes County Falls Prevention Program says it is funded by a grant from the Ohio Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The timing is not accidental. Ohio’s 2026 Older Americans Month theme, Champion Your Health, centers on prevention, wellness and personal responsibility, and the workshop series fits that message closely. The local health district says falls are the number one cause of injuries leading to emergency room visits, hospital stays and deaths for Ohioans age 65 and older, and that an older Ohioan is injured in a fall every two minutes on average.

That risk is why the program’s practical side matters. Holmes County residents 60 and older can also get free home-safety assessments through the falls-prevention program, along with no-cost home-safety items such as nightlights, tap lights, step stools, ice traction devices, reachers and grabbers, and contrasting carpet tape. The program also offers guidance on medication review, vision and hearing checks, safer homes and daily exercise, all aimed at helping older adults remain independent in their own homes.

The series is part of a broader regional effort that expanded to Wayne and Ashland counties in a five-year grant cycle that began Oct. 1, 2023, and runs through Sept. 30, 2028. For families in Holmes County, the workshops offer a nearby, no-cost entry point into the kinds of changes that can help an older parent, neighbor or spouse stay connected, avoid injury and keep living safely at home.