Caregiver Resources
Frequently Requested Phone Numbers:
Area Agency on Aging 1.800.442.1713
Benzie Bus 1.866.325.338 or 325.3000
Benzie Christian Neighbors (BACN) 882.9544
Benzie County Council on Aging 1.888.893.1102 or 325-4851
Benzie Housing Council 325.6400
Benzie Leelanau Public Health Department 882-4409
CHAP/Grand Traverse Regional Health Care Coalition 1.231.935.2100
Foot Clinic (Dr. Sheldon) at Paul Oliver 1.231.946.9122
Manistee Benzie Community Mental Health 1.877.398.2013 or 882-2100
Meals on Wheels 325.4851
Paul Oliver Hospital 352.9621
Be Smart. Be Well. is a health and wellness Web site designed to raise awareness of largely preventable health and safety issues. Explore engaging video stories about real family caregivers and family caregiving experts. The videos highlight the highly personal and profound struggles of caregivers and how they can also bring families together. Other videos show how caregiver stress can take a heavy toll on the caregivers and ways to cope with the stress for your own health and well being.
Benzie County Caregiving Resource Directory
Benzie County Caregiving Resource Directory provides reliable information on the myriad programs and services available in Benzie County. It is a joint effort of Catholic Human Services and Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan.
Links to information on a variety of scams in Northwest Michigan.
Caring.com was founded to help people caring for their aging elders and loved ones. Caring.com provides eldercare guidance from experts and people who’ve “been there” as caregivers, along with time-saving tips and person-to-person support through online connections with millions of other people in caregiving situations. Disease specific information is provided as well as information on assisted living, nursing homes, obituaries, funeral planning, state driving laws for the elderly and a link to Medicare Information Finder.
CareCentral is a personalized web service that allows users to create a private, secure online community for loved ones during significant health events. It is a free tool to update friends and family, organize and schedule offers to help, and encourage messages of hope, providing support when it is most needed.
CarePages are free, private web pages that make it easy to reach out and receive messages of support and to stay connected to family, friends, co-workers and others who care about you and your loved one. The service is available to anyone caring for a loved one, but may be particularly helpful to those who have recently found themselves in a care giving role.
Eldercare Locator provides referrals to Area Agencies on Aging via zip code locations. Family caregivers can also find information about many eldercare issues and services available in local communities.
www.nfca.lotsahelpinghands.com
Lotsa Helping Hands is a free-of-charge online service for creating private caregiving coordination communities where family and friends can stay informed and more easily provide assistance and support to caregivers. The service features many communication and social networking tools, including the ability to easily store and retrieve vital medical, financial and contact information, convey medical updates, and post photos. In addition, the easy-to-use calendar is specifically designed for organizing helpers, where everyone can pitch in with meal deliveries, rides, visits, and other tasks.
www.snapforseniors.com
info@snapforseniors.com
NFCA Senior Housing Locator powered by SNAPforSeniors® is a current, comprehensive and objective resource of senior housing in the U.S. Users can also search and screen for Medicare-certified home healthcare providers in their area. Download checklists and tools to help assess senior housing and care options. Exchange ideas and join discussions by participating in Groups.
RxCompare™ is a free tool developed by Medicare Access for Patients-Rx (MAPRx) to help users determine if they need to enroll in a Medicare drug plan and, if they do, to systematically compare the drug plans where they live and select the best option for their prescription needs. RxCompareTM works in tandem with Medicare’s on-line “Prescription Drug Plan Finder” and with information available from plans or 1-800-MEDICARE.
A visual education tool for family caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease, strokes or other physical disabilities. The site features exclusive documentary-style videos, created by a team of award-winning film producers, which follow real life people as real life stories and issues unfold. Here caregivers find tools to better understand and deal with their situation, and let them know that they are neither isolated nor alone in their struggle.
Tips & Tools
NFCA’s Tip Sheets and How-To Guides help family caregivers deal with the emotional and practical sides of caregiving. The following documents are in.pdf format. You must have Adobe’s Acrobat Reader to view and print these documents. The latest version of the Acrobat Reader is available free of charge by clicking:
A Home Healthcare Primer: HealthcrPrimer.pdf
Care Management Techniques You Can Use: CareManage.pdf
Choosing a Nursing Home, A Caregiver’s Guide: NursHomeChecklist.pdf
Improving Doctor Caregiver Communications: DrCaregvr.pdf
Share The Caring: Action Checklists for Family Caregivers: SharetheCaring_broch.pdf
Telephone Techniques for Family Caregivers: TelTips.pdf
When Your Loved One is Hospitalized: Hospitaltips[1].pdf
When Your Loved One Isn’t Very Lovable: LovedOneIsNotLovable.pdf
The Stress of Family Caregiving: CaregiverStress.pdf
Free Tools for Caregivers from the National Caregivers Library
Free tools, such as Driving Assessment Checklist, Comprehensive Caregiving Needs Assessment, Home Safety Tipsheet, Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire, Net Worth Calculation Worksheets, and Valuable Records Inventory Worksheet, are available. Simply enter your name and email address, then click “Submit” and check your inbox.