Caring for the caregiver

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Anyone who helps a senior gather information about their medical care, assists with buying groceries or household chores or simply lends a hand from time to time is a caregiver — and may benefit from a little care.

That’s the premise of First Thursdays at the Center, an educational series on Caring for the Caregiver.

“Caregivers don’t necessarily know they’re caregivers,” explained Joanne Bartosh, Nobles County coordinator for RSVP. “This is our attempt at helping people find information and resources and use that center.”

The next presentation, “Navigating the Medicare Part D Maze,” by Jason Turner, will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday at The Center, located in the Ace Hardware building at 1131 Oxford St. in the old Quizno’s space.

The presentation will prepare participants for the Medicare open enrollment date of Nov. 15, help them understand how Medicare plans change over time and allow people to make informed decisions and ensure they have chosen the right plans. Turner, owner of GuidePoint Pharmacy, will be the speaker.

Although the series targets caregivers, anyone interested in learning more about Medicare Part D is welcome to attend the free presentation.

The Nobles County Senior Concerns Committee, in conjunction with RSVP and District 518 Community Education, began the series partly in order to offer seniors and caregivers good information on critical topics, but also partly to find out what area seniors want from their senior center in terms of programming.

“We need to know what people are interested in,” Bartosh said. “We have to know what we need to build a center.”

The area’s senior facilities have moved around since their last permanent location, from West Elementary to MC Fitness to the current location at Ace Hardware.

“It’s a small area, but it’s a nice area,” Bartosh said. “We need people to use this center. We need ideas for more programming.”

The next presentation in the Caring for Caregivers series, “De-Stress the Holidays,” will be from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Dec. 3. Respite care may be arranged by calling Bartosh, 295-5262, two weeks prior to the session.

Tags: the center, news, worthington, caregiver, rsvp