Information and Assistance/Referral

Need help beginning or navigating through the maze of community services for yourself or your loved one?

Our information and assistance personnel maintain extensive resource information in order to answer questions and mail literature to help older persons, persons with disabilities, caregivers, and the general public find appropriate community resources to assist them.

In addition, the Resource Center is stocked with books, pamphlets, and videos regarding aging, caregiving, and disability issues that may be loaned to the general public.

Another way the information and assistance/referral department can provide the community with information not only about Area IV’s services, but also about community resources is by providing speakers for classrooms, church or service groups, etc. In addition to the speakers, we may hold educational programs such as the following:

“Communicating Effectively with Healthcare Professionals.” This program seeks to teach persons how to become a partner with their health care professional (doctor, nurse, etc.) by focusing on communication with health care professionals that emphasizes the need to increase mutual understanding and work toward positive improvements.

Available Caregiver Resources in the Resource Center

Books for Caregivers

• A Complete Idiot's Guide to Caring for Aging Parents by Rhodes, L.C.
• A Manager's Guide to Elder Care and work, Marosy, J.P.
• Caregiver's Guide: Helping Elderly Relatives Cope with Health and Safety Problems by Rob, C.
• Caregiving: How to Care for Your Elderly Mother and Stay Sane by
• Caring for Your Aging Parents by Smith, K.S.
• Caring for Your Parents: A Sourcebook of Options and Solutions for Both Generations by MacLean, Helene
• Caring for Yourself While Caring for Your Aging Parents: How to Help, How to Survive by Berman, Claire
• Dying at Home by Sankar, A.
• Elder Care: A 6-step Guide to Balancing Work and Family by Marosy, P.
• Family Caregiving by Cicirelli, V.
• Help! I'm Parenting My Parents by Jacobsen, J.J.
• Hiring Home Caregivers by Susik, D.H.
• Homes That Help: Advice from Caregivers for Creating a Supportive Home by Olsen, R.V., Ehrenkrantz, E., and Hutchings, B.
• How to Care for Aging Parents by Morris, V.
• How to Care for Your Parents: A Handbook for Adult Children by Levin, N.J.
• It Takes More Than Love by Beckerman, A.G., and Tappen, R.M.
• Making Peace with my Mother by Grossman, S.B.
• Male Caregiver's Guidebook by Alzheimer's Association
• Men as Caregivers to the Elderly: Understanding & Aiding Unrecognized Family Support by Kaye, L.W. & Applegate, J.S.
• Should Mom Live with us and is Happiness Possible if She Does? By Carlin, V.F. and Greenberg, V.E.
• Taking Care: Supporting Older People & Their Families by Hooyman, N.R. and Lustbader, W.
• When Love Gets Tough: The Nursing Home Decision by Marosy
• You and Your Aging Parents: The Modern Family Guide to Emotional, Physical, Financial Problems by Silverstone & Hyman
• Your Best is Good Enough: Aging Parents ad Your Emotions by Greenberg, V.E.

Books for Caregivers of Alzheimer's

• 2000 Progress Report on Alzheimer's Disease: Taking the Next Steps
• A Better Life: A Handbook on Improving the Quality of Life of Nursing Home Residents Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
• A Guide to Alzheimer's Disease by Reisburg, B.
• Alzheimer's Disease: A Practical Guide for Those Who Help Others by Ronch, J.L.
• Caring for People with Alzheimer's Disease by Andressen, G.
• Caring for the Caregiver: A Guide to Living with Alzheimer's Disease
• Comforting the Confused: Strategies for Managing Dementia by Hoffman, S.B. & Platt, C.A.
• Coping with Alzheimer's by Oliver, R. & Bock, F.A.
• Day in, Day Out with Alzheimer's: Stress in Caregiving Relationships by Lyman, K.A.
• Doing Things by Zgala, J.M.
• Failure Free Activities for the Alzheimer's Patient by Sheridan, C.
• I'll Move Over: A Story of a Great Love by Boggs, J.R.
• Living with Alzheimer's: Ruth's Story
• My Journey into Alzheimer's Disease by Davis
• The 36-Hour Day by Mace and Rabins
• The Best Friend's Approach to Alzheimer's Care by Bell & Troxel
• The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's Proofing Your Home by Warner, M.L.
• The Hidden Victims of Alzheimer's Disease: Families Under Stress by Zarit, S.H., Orr, N.K. and Zarit, J.N.
• The Validation Breakthrough by Feil, Naomi
• Understanding Alzheimer's Disease: What It Is, How to Cope with it, Future Directions by Scribners
• Understanding Difficult Behaviors: Practical Suggestions for Coping with Alzheimer's and Related Diseases by Robinson, Spencer, and White
• When Someone You Love has Alzheimer's by Larkin, M.

Pamphlets for Caregivers

• Hard Choices for Loving People
• Searching for Normal Feelings
• What Do You Do Now? (after a death)

Resources for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

• Grandparents as Parents: A Survival Guide for Raising a Second Family -- by Toledo, S. & Brown, D.E.
• Relatives Raising Children: An Overview of Kinship Care -- edited by Crumbley, J. & Little, R.L.
• Second Time Around: Help for Grandparents Who Raise Their Children's Kids -- by Callander, J.
• To Grandma's House We-Stay -- by Houtman, S.
• Working with Custodial Grandparents -- by Hayslip, B., Jr. and Hicks Patrick, J., editors

Videos for Caregivers

• Caring for the Terminally Ill
• Caring for your Parents
• Compassionate Touch
• Enhancing Self Care
• Gatekeeper
• Home Care Companion, The (6 video set)
• In Care of: Families and their Elders
• Old Enough to Care
• Our Parents, Our Children, Ourselves
• The Circle of Life: Taking Care of the Caregivers
• The Grit and Grace of Being a Caregiver
• The Sandwich Generation: Caring for both Children and Parents
• To Care: A Portrait of Three Older Caregivers

Videos for Caregivers of Alzheimer's

• A Wilderness Explored
• Alzheimer's Disease: Clinical Aspects and Effects of the Disease
• Alzheimer's Disease: Pieces of the Puzzle: A Practical Approach to Activities of Daily Living
• Alzheimer's Disease: Pieces of the Puzzle: A Practical Approach to Communication
• Alzheimer's Disease: Pieces of the Puzzle: A Practical Approach to Recreational Activities
• Alzheimer's Disease: Pieces of the Puzzle: A Practical approach to Problem Behaviors
• Alzheimer's Disease: Pieces of the Puzzle: Introduction
• Let's Talk About It
• Safety First: The Caregiver Series
• The Caregiver Kit
• Waves of Stone
• We'll Never be the Same Again