Mary Tritsch

Working to make Kansas the best state in which to live is something we take very seriously at AARP. And it couldn't happen without the efforts of AARP Kansas volunteers who dedicate much of their time working on advocacy issues, community service, and volunteer support.

Kansas ranks 30th when it comes to meeting the long-term care needs of older residents and people with disabilities, and AARP warns more must be done, at an accelerated pace, to meet changing demographic demands. Specific areas of concern in Kansas include support for family caregivers and more effective transitions from nursing homes to home. This, according to a new, comprehensive state-by-state Scorecard from AARP with support of the nation’s leading organizations behind quality long-term care, The Commonwealth Fund and SCAN Foundation.

AARP and the Microsoft Store at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park have teamed up to offer a variety of free computer classes on topics from keeping safe online to operating systems to social media. There will be different classes each month to help you learn to use your digital resources better. If you want to learn to manage your digital photos, communicate with Skype and social media, or just learn more about using your computer, these classes can help! All classes are from 10-11 AM and the doors open at 9:30 AM. Space is limited.

AARP Kansas is pleased to once again co-sponsor the annual Wichita Pride Family Picnic at O.J. Watson Park in Wichita on Saturday, June 17, 2017 beginning at 11 am. Bring your family and friends for food and fun. A Wichita Pride 2017 button is required to attend. Buttons cost $5 and may be purchased at the event.

Great news for our state’s more than 345,000 caregivers and the people for whom they provide care. The Kansas Legislature has passed and Governor Brownback has signed the Kansas Lay Caregivers Act, otherwise known as the Caregiver, Advise, Record and Enable or CARE Act. The new law, which goes into effect on July 1, 2018, will support caregivers when the person they are caring for is hospitalized and then returns home and is in need of care.

The AARP Fraud Watch Network brings fraud-fighting efforts to consumers nationwide in “Operation: Stop Scams”-- a month-long series of events in communities coast-to-coast, as AARP state organizations sponsor more than 150 free local events in nearly every state and the District of Columbia from in April and May, 2017.

With Governor Brownback’s veto of KanCare (the Kansas version of Medicaid) expansion, House Bill 2044, the Kansas House now has the opportunity to put hardworking Kansans first and overturn the governor’s veto. Maren Turner, director of AARP Kansas—with more than 320,000 members age 50 and older in the Sunflower State—issued the following statement, urging the House to take action now.

With a snip of the ribbon, AARP officially became a part of the Atwater Resource Center in Wichita's District 1. On Saturday, March 4, AARP State Director Maren Turner and AARP Volunteer State President Glenda DuBoise joined with Wichita Vice-Mayor LaVonta Williams, City Manager Robert Layton, Atwater Community Representative Kameelah Alexander and members of the Wichita Council of Elders to take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Investment fraud schemes cost Americans tens of billions of dollars a year. AARP has identified eight risk factors that predict who is most likely to be defrauded.

On February 23, the Kansas Senate voted 38-1 in favor of the Kansas Lay Caregivers Act (SB 68 as amended), otherwise known as the CARE Act. The CARE Act would require Kansas hospitals to give each patient the opportunity to designate a caregiver when they enter the hospital so the caregiver's name can be recorded, the caregiver is informed when the patient is transferred or about to be discharged, and the caregiver is given instruction on how to take care of the patient when he or she returns home. Some patients return home needing complex medical and nursing tasks as they recuperate. The CARE Act helps ensure that the caregiver knows what to do and how to do it giving the patient a better chance of getting well and not being readmitted to the hospital.