Caregiving

When the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee holds hearings this spring to discuss the biennial budget proposed by Gov. Scott Walker (R), AARP volunteers will be there to support key issues.

By David Lewellen

We were thrilled to meet with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin at her office in Madison to present her with a 2016 “Champions of the 50+” legislative leadership award for her significant achievements during the 114 th Congress that benefit the lives of those age 50-plus and their families.

By Joanne Cleaver

We are pleased that the State of Wisconsin withdrew its proposal by the Department of Health Services’ (DHS) to overhaul Family Care – the popular and cost-effective Wisconsin program that gives frail elderly and people with disabilities the opportunity to receive long-term care services in their homes and communities rather than in costly institutions.

We know how incredibly difficult it can be to provide care for a loved one. It can be even more difficult caring for those with dementia. But you don’t have to go it alone.

Over the past several months, dozens of groups and organizations involved in Wisconsin’s long term care programs (including AARP Wisconsin ) collaborated to create a 40-page blueprint for redesigning the system to ensure that quality, independence, and local control remain a focus of the state’s long term care decision-making process.

If you or someone you know is struggling to provide care for a loved one who is suffering from Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia – take heart.

An incredible number of Wisconsinites – about 578,000 by our last count – help their parents, spouses and other loved ones with a number of household chores and services that enable these folks to remain living independently in their own homes and communities as long as possible.

At a recent press conference in Lake Geneva, Governor Walker thanked AARP Wisconsin for our great teamwork with the state Department of Health Services (DHS) in promoting the latest initiative in the Dementia-Capable Wisconsin program – The Dementia-Friendly Employers Toolkit – which provides employers with the tools they need to support workers who are caring for a loved one with dementia.