AARP’s Cheyenne Office Will Host Dementia Caregiver Webinars

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Center on Aging (WYCOA) and Wyoming’s chapter of The Alzheimer’s Association offer a webinar series for caregivers, friends, and family of dementia patients. The webinars may be seen online, or at a viewing site around the state, including the AARP State Office in Cheyenne.

The webinar series takes place each Friday starting May 11 and running through June 8 and will feature a different topic specific to caregivers of dementia patient each week. The webinars focus on providing family care partners information and resources related to dementia and self-care.

“We have been working with dementia caregivers for several years and one key thing that we have learned is that there is so much uncertainty among caregivers about where to turn for accurate information about the disease, how to find quality care and resources, and taking care of themselves as the caregiver, ” says WyCOA Associate Director Catherine Phillips Carrico, Ph.D. “Everyone feels like they need to learn more. I think that is what we have considered when developing this project.”

The topic schedule for the webinars, which take place from 10:30-11:30 a.m.is:

May 11 - Advance Care Planning
May 18 - Caregiver Values in Action
May 25 - Identifying Community Resources
June 1 - Medicare Made Easy
June 8 - Medicaid - What you need to know.

Caregivers interested in viewing the webinars from home may do so by contacting WYCOA at www.uwyo.edu/wycoa, emailing WyCOA at wycoa@uwyo.edu, or by calling (307) 766-2829.

The webinars may also be viewed at the AARP Wyoming office at 2020 Carey Avenue, Mezzanine Level in Cheyenne free of charge. AARP Wyoming’s office is one of roughly 25 viewing sites for the webinars statewide. The others include:

Uinta Senior Citizens - Evanston
1229 Uinta St, Evanston, WY 82930

Uinta Senior Citizens - Evanston
1229 Uinta St, Evanston, WY 82930

AARP Office - Cheyenne
2020 Carey Ave. Mezzanine Level
Cheyenne, WY 82001

Pine Bluffs Senior Citizens Inc
Pine Bluffs, Wyo.

LSRV Ed Center
360 Whippoorwill Dr
Baggs, WY

Thayne Senior Center
PO Box 1033
Thayne, WY 83127

Campbell Co Senior Center
701 Stocktrail Ave
Gillette, WY 82716

Central Wyoming College Lander/Sinks Canyon Center
120 Enterprise Blvd.
Lander, WY 82520

LSR Village
360 Whipporwill Drive (109.44 mi)
Baggs, Wyoming 82321

Golden Hour Senior Center
550 Uinta Dr.
Green River, WY 82935

The Hub on Smith
211 Smith Street
Sheridan, WY 82801

Mountain Plaza Assisted Living
4154 Talon Drive
Casper, WY 82604

Lyman ADC
216 W. Sage
Lyman, WY 82937

Mountain Pacific
Casper, WY

Spring Wind
1072 N. 22nd St
Laramie WY 82070

Ivinson Memorial Hospital
Laramie, WY
Summit room

Help for Health Hospice
1240 College View Dr
Riverton, WY

307 Health
250 N. Evarts St
Powell, WY  82435

Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
800 E. 20th St. Suite 200
Cheyenne, WY 82001

Glenrock Senior Center
615 W. Deer St

Douglas Senior Center
340 1st St W

Primrose Retirement
1530 Dorothy Lane
Cheyenne, WY  82009

“These webinars will be very easy to join,” says Carrico. “Viewers may join from a computer, a smartphone or a host site in your local community. We will also be recording these sessions and will have them available for viewing online after the event.”

According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are 16.1 million Americans battling Alzheimer's Disease. Wyoming currently has around 9,700 Alzheimer's patients in the state being taken care of by 28,000 caregivers.

The webinar series is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services through a Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program awarded to the Wyoming Center on Aging.