Extension and AARP teaming up to help Oklahoma caregivers

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Thousands of caregivers across Oklahoma will benefit from a new partnership between the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and AARP Oklahoma.

The two organizations are pooling their considerable resources in a wide-ranging initiative designed to push critical Oklahoma-specific information, resources and support to the more than half a million caregivers who call the state home.

“There is a natural synergy between AARP and Extension,” said Whitney Bailey, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension caregiving specialist. “The goal of the partnership is to raise awareness of caregiving issues and work collaboratively to develop content that can be used by community educators in local communities.”

To mark the new partnership, AARP launched a text campaign. By texting “CARE” to 79640, families will receive a link to an online resource page with an extensive library of caregiving-related information.

In July and August, a series of one-minute television segments called “The Oklahoma Caregiving Minute” will air statewide on News 9 and the News on 6. Produced by AARP, one of the five scheduled segments will feature Extension’s Bailey.

The two organizations also have pledged to develop a toolkit of caregiver resources specific to Oklahoma and a webinar focused on caregiving issues is set for Aug. 5. The webinar is free and open to the public.

In November, which also is National Family Caregivers month, AARP will sponsor and participate in the OSU Center for Family Resilience’s chautauqua at the OSU-Tulsa campus. The annual meeting, which is open to the public, will feature national experts on family caregiving. There is a registration fee for the event.

“There are more than 600,000 family caregivers in Oklahoma, and with thousands of Baby Boomers now at retirement age in the state, this is an issue that most Oklahomans will face in the future, if they haven’t already,” said Sean Voskuhl, AARP Oklahoma state director. “We are excited about the opportunity to work with the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, especially since they have such a strong presence through county Extension offices in local communities across the state.”

Throughout the partnership, a major emphasis will be placed on the CARE Act of Oklahoma, which went into effect on Nov. 1, 2014. The law allows patients to designate caregivers when they are admitted to the hospital and calls for caregivers to be notified before patients are discharged and consulted on how to care for patients after they return home.

Oklahoma is the first state in the nation to pass the CARE Act.

“For more than 100 years, county-based Extension educators have been working directly with residents in communities to address local issues. Our goal has always been to help Oklahomans live the best lives possible and this partnership with AARP is another opportunity for us to achieve that goal,” said (First and last name), (County) (Title).

For more information about caregiving or the partnership between AARP and Extension, contact the nearest county Extension office and visit www.aarp.org/ok.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership of nearly 38 million with offices in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.