AAA can point you to many resources and services that assist caregivers of older adults, as well as older adults caring for children under the age of 18.
Information and Assistance
For information about services for the care recipient, or for the caregiver, call the 2-1-1 Texas information and referral service by dialing 2-1-1.
In addition, the following resources are available
Alzheimer's Association of Tarrant County
The Alzheimer's Association will provide books and tapes at all of the public library branches about Alzheimer's disease and ways of coping. For more information, call 817-336-4949.
Benefits Counseling
AAA has staff and volunteer benefits counselors who work with clients on the telephone or in person to help with insurance and health benefits. To speak to a benefits counselor,
call 817-258-8125.
Education and Support
Several agencies and organizations provide support groups and educational programs for caregivers:
Family Caregiver Workshops: Getting Support You Deserve
These informal workshops help family members who provide care for an older adult with chronic illness and health and human service needs. All classes are free of charge. For more information, call 817-258-8081.
You will receive information and materials including:
• Aging Information
• Behavioral and emotional aspects of aging
• Community and Internet resources
• Financial and legal planning
• Independence, home safety & residential options
• Meeting caregiver needs.
Internet Resources for Caregivers
If you are caring for an older family member, or anticipate that you will be in the future, you will need to determine what level of care you will be able provide to them. To help you with this process, visit the many caregiver resource sites available through the Internet:
• National Sites
• State Sites
Library Caregiver Resource Center
The following books and videos have been placed at the Fort Worth public library by the Area Agency through a grant funded by the National Family Caregiver Act.
To access any of these materials, visit your nearest public library and type "caregiver" as the key word into the computerized card catalogue. If your selection is not available at your local branch, ask the librarian to order it for you through inter-library loan.
• Books
The Comfort of Home – Maria M. Myer
The Unofficial Guide to Eldercare – Chris Adamec
The Caregiver’s Guide: Helping Elderly Relatives Cope with Health and Safety Problems – Caroline Rob
Elder Rage of Take My Father . . . Please!: How to Survive Caring for Aging Parents – Jacqueline Marcel
The Lost Art of Caring – Leighton E. Cuff
Telling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography Groups – James E. Birren
Dying at Home – Andrea Sankar
Nursing Homes: The Family’s Journey – Peter E. Silin
Dutiful Daughters – Jean Gould
Coping with Your Difficult Older Parent – Grace Lebow
A Caregiver’s Survival Guide – Kay Marshall Strom
How to Care for Aging Parents – Virginia Morris & Robert Butler
Elder Care – Thomas M. Cassidy
Caring for Yourself While Caring for Your Aging Parents – Claire Berman
A Family Caregiver’s Guide to Planning Decision Making for the Elderly – James A. Wilkinson
• Videos
How to Choose a Nursing Home
A Prescription for Caregivers: Take Care of Yourself
Surrounded with Love: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Curtain Call
My Mother, My Father
My Mother, My Father – Seven Years Later
Elder Parent Care: The Family Meeting
Big Mama
Publications - Online and Print
Handbook for Family Caregivers of Older Adults by Mildred O. Hogstel, Ph.D., R.N.C.
This handbook has been written to help adult children, grandchildren and siblings learn how to help older family members maintain and/or regain a healthy and happy lifestyle as long as possible. The author is a registered nurse with national certification in the nursing care of older adults. She also was a caregiver for her parents for many years.
• The Caregiver’s Handbook
Published by the Visiting Nurses Association of America and Deni
Brown, Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. March 1998.
This site offers an array of resources and tools to help caregivers and older people make informed choices about living arrangements and care options for older adults.
Through our flexible Respite Voucher Program, caregivers of people age 60 and over may receive vouchers to pay for respite services provided by family members, friends, neighbors, or other providers. For more information, call the 2-1-1 Texas information and referral service by
dialing 2-1-1.
Area Agency on Aging provides "service navigation" to help meet the needs of the individual. A social worker will come to the home and assess the client's situation to assist in determining what services are needed, such as in-home care, personal assistance, emergency response, assistive devices in the bathroom, etc. For more information, call 817-258-8081.