Caregiver support program offers help to families in San Benito
County
May is National Older Americans’ Month and this year the
Administration on Aging, with headquarters in Washington, D.C.,
announced that the theme is
”
Age Strong! Live Strong!
”
To show support, the San Benito County supervisors signed a
proclamation at a May board meeting. The proclamation acknowledges
that San Benito County is one of 11 counties in California that has
a senior growth rate of 150 percent.
Caregiver support program offers help to families in San Benito County
May is National Older Americans’ Month and this year the Administration on Aging, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., announced that the theme is “Age Strong! Live Strong!”
To show support, the San Benito County supervisors signed a proclamation at a May board meeting. The proclamation acknowledges that San Benito County is one of 11 counties in California that has a senior growth rate of 150 percent.
The county has a senior population of 8,606, with 2,528 of those people more than 75 years of age. 433 of them are age 85 or older.
According to the proclamation, 18 percent of seniors 60 or older in the county live in geographically isolated areas as defined by the California Department of Aging.
The proclamation also states that while many of the seniors have extended family or caregivers helping them, or reside in skilled nursing or residential facilities, more than 1,000 seniors reside alone.
It also praises the volunteer work of seniors at many organizations in the community – from local churches to schools to the local library.
In April, Jovenes de Antano, the local senior services provided, joined forces with the Santa Cruz-based Health Projects Center to provide a Caregiver workshop.
In a letter, Pauline Valdivia, the executive director of Jovenes de Antano and a Hollister city council member, said the term “caregiver refers to anyone who provides assistance to someone else who is, in some degree, incapacitated and needs help: a husband who has suffered a stroke; a wife with Parkinson’s disease; a mother-in-law with cancer; a father with Alzheimer’s disease; a son with traumatic brain injury; a partner with AIDS.”
According of American Association of Retired Persons, California caregivers annually provide unpaid care services with a market value equal to $45 billion. The recent Caregiver University was meant to provide some support to those in providing health, social or legal services to family members.
Jovenes de Antano also provides the Family Caregiver Support Program, in which those eligible may be able to get a case manager who will work with families to get them community education, outreach, a comprehensive assessment of needs, information and referrals to other resources, assisted transportation, respite, counseling from a licensed social worker, nutrition education from a registered dietician, home security and safety assessment and more.
Jovenes de Antano is located at the Hollister Community Center, 300 West St., and is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information on the family caregiver support program or other services, call 637-9275.
