Family Re-Union 9: Families and Seniors Across Generations

Selected Links for Families and Seniors Across Generations

Access America for Seniors. A one-stop gateway to federal information and services for and about senior citizens. Without having to know which government agency or program provides it, seniors and their families can access health and security information and more.

AgingStats. Aging statistics from nine federal agencies; includes "Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well-Being."

AARP is the nation's leading organization for people age 50 and older. It serves their needs and interests through information and education, advocacy, and community services which are provided by a network of local chapters and experienced volunteers throughout the country. The organization also offers members a wide range of special benefits and services, including Modern Maturity magazine and the monthly Bulletin. AARP also has a Volunteer Guide.

Seniors Corps. Learn how you can make a difference by serving with a Foster Grandparent, RSVP, or Senior Companion Program, all part of the Corporation for National Service Seniors Corps.

The West Virginia University Center on Aging. The mission of the Center on Aging at WVU is to provide for the development of excellence in service, education, research and policy related to aging, and with particular focus in rural aging. It's goals are: promoting quality of life in later years; providing education, consultations and services to the communities in West Virginia; sustaining independence and creative potential across the life course; and making policy recommendations for healthy aging in rural areas. The Center, with the U.N. Programme on Ageing and the World Health Organization, sponsored an International Rural Aging conference, "Rural Aging: A Global Challenge," in June 2000. The Shepherdstown Report on Rural Aging, prepared for the conference, is available on this site.

Links by Roundtable Topic
1. Maintaining health across the life span

• Infoaging.org from the American Federation for Aging Research. Provides consumer information on aging and health
• Center to Advance Palliative Care. For patients at the end-of-life

2. Supporting mental health for seniors and caregivers

• The International Longevity Center is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan research and education organization whose mission is to help societies address longevity and population aging in positive and productive ways and highlight older people's productivity and contributions to their families and society as a whole.
• Aging, Caregiving, and Complimentary Therapies. Projects from Wellesley Center for Research on Women.
• National Council on Family Relations. The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) provides a forum for family researchers, educators, and practitioners to share in the development and dissemination of knowledge about families and family relationships, establishes professional standards, and works to promote family well-being.

3. Families caring for seniors

• Just One Call. A one-stop source of information and assistance for senior citizens and adults with disabilities living in Mecklenburg County, as well as their families and professional caregivers both near and far. Available in English and Spanish.
• National Respite Coalition, The Mission of the National Respite Coalition is to secure quality, accessible, planned and crisis respite services for all families and caregivers in need of such services in order to strengthen and stabilize families, and enhance child and adult safety. Includes Contact information for State Respite Coalitions that do not have web pages.
• ARCH National Respite Network and Resource Center. Designed to support service providers and families through training, technical assistance, evaluation, and research. The National Respite Network and Resource Center also has a National Respite Locator Service.
• Family Support & Respite Coalition of Missouri. An organization of advocates, service providers, parents, and others who believe that families of individuals with a disability should be supported to the fullest and most cost-effective extent possible in their effort to maintain the integrity of the family structure.
• Nebraska Respite Care Coalition. The NNCF is a project of the Center on Children, Families, and the Law at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and is supported by grants from the Nebraska Health and Human Services System: Special Services for Children and Adults Division, the Foster Care Division, and the Division of School and Adolescent Health. Mission: The mission of the NNCF is (1) to provide information, opportunities for dialogue, education, and support to Nebraskans with special needs and their families; (2) developing and providing Internet resources; and (3) encouraging others to do the same.
• Oregon Lifespan Respite. The Oregon Lifespan Respite Care Program, part of the Department's Community Partnership Team, helps counties develop and implement community-based lifespan respite care networks. The Lifespan networks help families and caregivers locate respite care services in their communities.
• Ohio Respite Coalition. The Mission of the Ohio Respite Coalition is to promote through education, the development and support of statewide quality respite and crisis care systems which strengthen and maintain family unity for individuals with special needs. Formed in 1998 through funds from Project Help, the Coalition works to improve respite and crisis care systems throughout Ohio.
• Give Me A Break, Inc. Respite outreach efforts in Nevada.
• Respite Care Association of Wisconsin. The Respite Care Association of Wisconsin,Inc. (RCAW) is a not-for-profit organization that promotes and supports through education, advocacy, and public awareness, a statewide quality respite and crisis care system.

4. Seniors caring for others

• National Council on Aging. Organizations and professionals dedicated to promoting the dignity, self-determination, and well being of older persons. Family Friends Program is accessible through this site.
• www.edgewoodcenter.org The Edgewood Center for Children and Families.

5. The power of intergenerational programs

• Generations United (GU) is the only national membership organization focused solely on promoting intergenerational strategies, programs, and public policies. GU represents more than 185 national, state, and local organizations representing more than 70 million Americans and is the only national organization advocating for the mutual well-being of children, youth, and older adults. GU serves as a resource for educating policymakers and the public about the economic, social, and personal imperatives of intergenerational cooperation. GU provides a forum for those working with children, youth, and the elderly to explore areas of common ground while celebrating the richness of each generation.
• The Center for Intergenerational Learning at Temple University is dedicated to strengthening communities by bringing generations together to meet the needs of individuals and families throughout the life cycle. Established in 1979, the Center for Intergenerational Learning is a national resource for intergenerational programming. The Center: creates opportunities for youth and elders to contribute to their communities; promotes partnerships among organizations serving young people, families, and older adults; helps organizations integrate intergenerational approaches into their program services; informs educators, human service practitioners, and policy-makers about the impact of intergenerational strategies.
• Generations Together (GT) is an international center for intergenerational studies at the University of Pittsburgh. It furthers program development, education and training, research, and dissemination, and technical support that helps professionals acquire the knowledge, understanding, and skills to integrate intergenerational components into their work. Furthermore, it supports university/community collaboration and public policy initiatives that result in effective intergenerational partnership that positively impact children, youth and older persons in our communities.
• The Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College. City University of New York.
• National Council on Aging. Organizations and professionals dedicated to promoting the dignity, self-determination, and well being of older persons. Family Friends Program is accessible through this site.
• Grantmakers for Aging. Grantmakers in Aging, an educational nonprofit membership organization for staff and trustees of foundations and corporations, is the only national professional organization of grantmakers active in the field of aging.
• National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. The Learn & Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse is a comprehensive information system that focuses on all dimensions of service-learning, covering kindergarten through higher education school-based as well as community based initiatives. The Center of the Clearinghouse is located at the University of Minnesota, Department of Work, Community and Family Education, with collaboration from a consortium of thirteen other institutions and organizations.

6. Active aging and civic engagement for all generations

• Civic Ventures aims to expand the social contributions of older Americans and to help transform the aging of American society into a source of individual and social renewal. A particular focus is on increasing the involvement of older adults in the lives of children and youth. Experience Corps is Civic Ventures' vehicle for engaging the time, talent and experience of older Americans in service to the younger generation.

7. Opportunities for life long learning, teaching and meaningful work

• University for Seniors (US) is a humanities-based educational adventure for mature adults looking for a continuing education program with intellectual vitality in an academic environment. All you need is a probing mind and an annual or term membership. University for Seniors is a membership based organization whose purpose is to provide intellectual and cultural stimulation and growth for the like-minded peers. Those who live life best find new roles, make new friends, and discover new ideas. A peer driven organization, all US programs are planned and developed by US members and include study groups, lectures, workshops, field trips, and cultural and social opportunities. Three 8-week terms are offered during the year - fall, winter, and spring. University for Seniors began in 1989 with the help of Continuing Education and Extension (now University College, University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD)) and a steering committee of community leaders.
• Volunteers in Medicine Institute assists communities throughout the United States in developing family health care clinics by utilizing retired and semi-retired medical professionals. The program embraces the belief that giving of one's self in service to others in need is as therapeutic for the care giver as it is for the care recipient. 21 communities are actively working toward creating a VIM Clinic for the medically uninsured, and hundreds more have contacted the Institute for assistance.
• North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement. Established in 1988 as an integral part of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement (NCCCR) has the threefold purpose of promoting lifelong learning, leadership, and community service opportunities for retirement-aged individuals. Most of NCCCR programs are in the Asheville area, but some are carried out in collaboration with other organizations in other parts of North Carolina or across the country.
• The Storytelling Foundation International promotes the use of stories as a vehicle for intergenerational teaching and learning. Storytelling allows one generation to pass down values, history, and cultural heritage to the next generation. In addition, telling and listening to stories can stimulate children's language development, strengthens their capacity for rational thinking, teaches concentration, and enhances social skills.

8. Families and elders in different cultures

• Columbia Center for Active Life of Minority Elders (CALME).A RCMAR has been established at Columbia University, funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Nursing Research. The Resource Center for Minority Aging Research is intended to meet its objective by:
  • increasing learning and mentoring relationship between experienced researchers and researcher without previous funded research on minority health and aging issues;
  • increasing the research skills and experience of minority faculty at either majority or traditionally minority based institutions (TMBIs) who may not have had opportunities for conducting minority health and aging research;
  • increasing the cultural awareness, community development techniques and methodological skills of majority and minority researchers who have limited familiarity with minority populations or with behavioral science epidemiological research skills in conducting research in minority populations;
  • supporting research on understanding and reducing health status and access differentials by funding pilot studies which have a high probability of resulting in subsequent independent investigator awards, involving minority researchers as principal investigators (PI's) or major co-investigators;
  • creating an infrastructure using already tested models for accessing older minority individuals to seek their participation in biomedical, social and behavioral research on aging;
  • increasing and disseminating knowledge about and experience with gaining access to and maintaining populations of various minority group members for aging research; and
  • creating culturally sensitive strategies and measurement tools for use in older minority populations for aging research. The Columbia Center for the Active Life of Minority Elders has been established in the Northern part of Manhattan, in the center of two contiguous large minorities communities: Harlem and Washington Heights and Inwood.

9. Designs for living: giving families and communities the choices they need

• The Design for Aging Review is a collaborative effort between the Design for Aging Center of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), www.aahsa.org. The Design for Aging Center of the AIA represents a dynamic and growing sector of the architectural profession. Understanding that as the need for services in this sector increases, so will the demand for up-to-date information and knowledge, the Design for Aging Center stands at the forefront of generating and supporting this knowledge base. The Design for Aging Center's cosponsor, AAHSA, aims to advance the interests of its members through leadership, advocacy, networking, education, and other services. Founded in the early 1960s, AAHSA has expanded to represent over 5,000 not-for-profit nursing facilities, continuing-care retirement communities, assisted-living residences, senior housing facilities, home-and community-based services, housing, health-related facilities, and services for the elderly.

10. Flexible work arrangements and financial security for multi-generation families

• The National Alliance for Caregiving. The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) is a non-profit joint venture, created in 1996 to support family caregivers of the elderly and the professionals who serve them. There are three NAC partners - the American Society on Aging, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging - and founding sponsor Glaxo Wellcome. There are also 11 affiliate organizations: AARP, American Academy of Home Care Physicians, American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry, Assisted Living Federation of America, Children of Aging Parents, Gray Panthers, National Association of Professional Geriatric care Managers, National Association of Social Workers, National Council on the Aging, United Seniors Health Cooperative, and the Well Spouse Foundation.
• The AXA Foundation Family Care Resource Connection is a searchable database of books, videos, websites, magazines, fact sheets and other resources addressing the range of issues and questions faced by family caregivers.
• Covenant Health is East Tennessee's leading healthcare provider,.
• LifeTrust America, Inc. Providing housing and healthcare services to older adults is LifeTrust America's purpose. A senior services company based in Nashville, Tennessee, we believe in partnering with families to care for and nurture older family members. It's a mission we take seriously.