Sooner or later, most adult children will need to consider facilitating the care for their aging parents. When my mom had a series of health problems a couple of years ago, I felt overwhelmed. I didn’t know what types of assistance were available, how to get her connected with medical or social support groups or where to find this information. It felt like I was trying to play catch up with a system I had never needed to navigate before.
As I spoke with my peers and friends, I realized that this was a common fear many of them shared. With help from the older adult librarians and community resource specialists at the library, I was able to gather a solid foundation of information to face the challenges and realities of being an adult child to an aging parent.
Older Adults and Care Partner Resources
Visiting the Older Adults and Care Partners page can get you pointed in the right direction whether you’re looking for information on active aging, memory care, assistive technology available at the library and so much more.
On this page you’ll find upcoming events designed for older adults, blogs for care partners and even sign up for home delivery of library materials.
Community Resource Specialists
The community resource specialists at the library provide invaluable services for anyone looking to learn more about community resources. They can provide information about public, private and government organizations offering assistance with housing, health insurance, mental health, food banks and more. While these are NOT individual case managers, they can help get you pointed in the right direction.
I was able to schedule an appointment for my mother to meet with a community resource specialist to answer questions about social security disability insurance (SSDI), learn about Medicare and more. She was also able to learn about Innovage, opens a new window, a free program for all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE), opens a new window to manage her medical care and transportation.
Schedule an appointment with an expert
Arapahoe Libraries offers free 30-minute appointments with experts in many different specialties.
If you’re looking for resources as a care partner for someone experiencing memory loss, general information about services for seniors or are curious about library services for older adults, schedule an appointment with an older adult librarian.
If you’re looking for information on public, private or governmental organizations, you’ll want to schedule an appointment with a community resource specialist.
Who are these resources for?
One of the big misconceptions I faced along this knowledge journey was that I believed that these services are intended for others, especially those in crisis situations. That is not the case. While there is information available on the Community Resources page relating to crisis assistance, the resources and appointments mentioned in this blog are available to all patrons of Arapahoe Libraries.
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