ST. PETERSBURG – Hoarding was rarely talked about for years but is becoming an ever-growing hot-button health issue.

The problem of hoarding is identified by mental health professionals as an obsessive compulsive disorder (also known as OCD) that affects adults of all ages, but especially seniors.

On Friday, Oct. 7, the Westminster Palms retirement community hosts a forum, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to educate professionals and the public on hoarding and the health concerns it poses.

Several professionals who commonly see or deal with hoarding situations, especially among the elderly, will offer presentations during the event. They are:

• Dale Smrekar, owner of Downsizing Advisory Service. Dale is an estate liquidation expert who says he has seen his share of senior hoarding. During his presentation, he will educate people about hoarding and contrast the problem with clutter. He also will talk about what actual items in a home may have significant value for an estate liquidation sale, even in a hoarding situation.

Smrekar says despite the horrible bio-hazardous situations common in homes where hoarding has occurred, resulting in high toxic conditions due to “insect infestation, animal feces matter, or mold infestation,” the items of value to look for are “hard goods.” 

“These would be anything made of metal, for example, sterling silver, jewelry, coin collections or bronzes.  Also paintings may be of value if they are high enough up on walls away from the waste and garbage.”  He added items made of glass and pottery may also have value.

Smrekar noted that people need to be careful in going into homes where “heavy hoarding” has occurred.  He cited, for instance, on at least two occasions that even with preventive gloves and a mask to protect him, he suffered an upper respiratory illness from being in a contaminated house environment. 

He further noted, “Too often you have church social workers, staff or volunteers going into these homes to deal with a church member’s hoarding situation and that can be downright dangerous.  Someone could easily get a lung infection and die.”  He says when people encounter this type of extreme hoarding, where a home is truly environmentally hazardous they need to get a professional to come in and decontaminate the residence.

• Laura Spaulding, president of Spaulding Decon, a clean-up service for all types of circumstances, where decontamination is needed, including hoarder “pack rat” situations, will speak to that very topic at the symposium. A former police officer, Spaulding saw hoarding first hand while in law enforcement, including this behavior at its worse.  So much so she decided to create a business around helping hoarders or the next of kin to a hoarder, clean up the toxic horrors that result from this mental disorder.

Dealing with the worst of the worst, she and her technicians go into contaminated homes dressed in full HAZMAT suits for protection.  The services Spaulding Decon provides are confidential. "Our commitment to confidentiality means that your privacy is respected.”  

• Beth Warren, owner and president of Welcome Home Relocation  Inc., a moving management firm, will also be speaking on the dangers of hoarding. A considerable amount of Warren’s business is devoted to helping seniors downsize and move as stress-free as possible to a new residence, such as a retirement community, assisted living facility or nursing home. In doing so, she does encounter hoarders, which is something she says ten or fifteen years ago, when she first started her business was unheard of.  Not any more.  Now she knows she will run into several hoarders in any given year, and they will often be what she says are “fours and fives.”

What she is talking about is a scale system for clutter/hoarding she uses when visiting homes. Using this scale, developed by the Institute for Challenging Disorganization, she like other professionals who deal with clutter/hoarding situations in their business, can determine how severe the problem really is.  This system will be part of her and Spaulding’s presentations. 

Others speaking at the symposium will be: Genevieve Faulk, MSW, LCSW, CMC, CSA, C-ASWCM, president and lead geriatric care manager for Aging Care Advocates, which is a team of professional geriatric managers who assist seniors or disabled adults and their families with immediate and long-term care needs; and representatives of two legal-related firms: Cary Sanchez, LCSW and Brenda A. Baietto, Esq. of Sanchez & Baietto, LLC – a meditation and conflict resolution services agency; and Amanda Wolf, Esq. – Wolf Elder Law .

If You Go

“Hoarder Symposium for Professionals” is a free informational program but reservations are required since seating is limited. (Call 727-432-0307.) It will be held in the Palm View Building at Westminster Palsm, at 939 Beach Drive NE.