New Hampshire Resources :

New Hampshire Easter Seals - Click here for information about their senior services, including their Seniors Count program, as well as a listing for NH-based and national/federal resources.

NH ServiceLink Network
A statewide network of community-based connections for elders, adults with disabilities and their families

Community House Calls
Community House Calls offers a variety of new and innovative programs designed to provide quality home maintenance, management and supportive personal services. Their mission is to support individuals in their own homes, empowering them to live safer, more productive lives with a specific focus on home safety and accessibility issues.

NH Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
The NH Department of Health and Human Services is an agency that helps people in partnership with families, community groups, private providers, other governmental agencies and many thousands of foster parents, neighbors, and citizens.

Prime Time, Resources for Healthy Living
Prime Time, Resources for Healthy Living, is a comprehensive education and resource center for healthy living, designed specifically for people over 50. It’s a place where health is about all of life – your body, mind, spirit, finances, social life, and work. It’s a place where age is considered a gift.

NH Minority Health Coalition
NHMHC is dedicated to identifying populations in the state with barriers to accessing appropriate healthcare, to advocate for adequate and appropriate services and to empower these populations to be active participants in their own health care.

New Hampshire AARP
This website includes a Caregiving section with tips and information on topics such as managing stress, choosing a nursing home, balancing work, etc.

Meals on Wheels (NH)
Click on the link above for a list of NH-based Meals-On-Wheels and Senior Meals program locations and contact information. Local Meals-On-Wheels and other non-profit meal organizations help fill the need that many frail and recovering seniors have by providing nutritious meals.

TechLink NH
TechLink NH has established technology access centers, or Technology Access Points (TAPs), as they call them, in several communities throughout northern New Hampshire. The TAPs offer free public Internet access at least twenty hours a week, and are staffed regularly by an AmeriCorps*VISTA member, who can give one-on-one assistance to users of all ages.

The Home Care Association of New Hampshire (HCANH)
HCANH represents licensed agencies that provide in-home health care and supportive services to individuals living in New Hampshire. The Association promotes the delivery of responsible, high quality health care in the home by offering education and networking opportunities for home care professionals, providing leadership on home care issues, and serving as a home care advocate in the public policy arena.

New Hampshire Coupons – SeniorSavings
A round up all of the merchants offering special savings just to for NH’s Senior Citizens

Grafton County Senior Citizens Council
GCSCC has locations in Lebanon, Canaan, Orford, North Haverhill, Plymouth, Bristol, Lincoln and Littleton, and provides services and programs to older residents of 39 communities within Grafton County.

Rivier Institute for Senior Education (RISE)
Where curiosity never retires! Rivier College is based in Nashua. RISE is part of the growing Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) movement in the US and Canada. There are more than 250 such organizations of retirement-age learners dedicated to meeting the educational interests of their members. The movement is opening campuses across the continent to the experience and vitality of the mature person.

NH Book Bag Program
This Program is a joint project of the New Hampshire State Library and the New Hampshire Humanities Council. The Book Bag Program provides collections of literature to book discussion groups in New England (first preference is given to New Hampshire customers). Over 400 titles in quantities that vary from 10 to 100 copies are available through the program. Representatives of nonprofit agencies (e.g. libraries, nursing homes, and senior centers) may request New Hampshire Book Bag service.

New Hampshire Electric Assistance Program
You may be eligible to a discount of 15%-90% on your electric bill. Your local Community Action Agency (CAA) can help you find out if you are eligible. For additional information about this state-wide program, and to find contact information for your local CAA, please visit. http://www.nhec.coop/

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National Resources:

Senior Corps/Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
Senior Corps is a network of programs that tap the experience, skills, and talents of older citizens to meet community challenges with Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP. Click here for RSVP offices in NH.

Health and Age: Live Well, Live Longer
Web-based Health Education Foundation (WHEF) is a nonprofit corporation providing web-based, interactive health information for people as they move towards their senior years, and for those who take care of them. By encouraging early detection and the prevention of illnesses and disabilities, especially among older persons, HealthandAge.com seeks to improve the quality of life and lower health care costs for all who use the website.

RespectAbility
The National Council on The Aging (NCOA)'s RespectAbility initiative seeks to help non-profit organizations make more effective use of older Americans in their community-based efforts. This multi-year partnership project will create opportunities for older Americans to renew their communities through volunteer work or work in retirement.

Elderhostel
Established in 1975, Elderhostel, a not-for-profit organization, is the nation’s first and the world’s largest educational and travel organization for adults. Click on the link above to search for Elderhostel educational and travel opportunities throughout the USA (including NH) and internationally.

The National Family Caregivers Association

The National Family Caregiver Support Program
This is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The National Women’s Health Information Center
This link offers great information on caregiving, tips to reduce caregiver stress, etc.

National Organization for Empowering Caregivers
This site offers 24-hour online support groups

Family Caregiver Alliance

National Respite Network and Resource Center
This organization has compiled a list of national therapy/respite camps for either you or your loved one, so you can take a mini vacation from physical and emotional stress.

National Adult Day Services Association

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Additional Resources:

Low-Cost or Free Brochures Dealing with Social issues affecting older adults:

Be An Active Member of Your Health Care Team - Available in Spanish or English; this brochure from the Food and Drug Administration and the Council on Family Health features information that can help readers make informed choices about both prescription and over-the-counter medicines and encourages open communication between health care providers and patients. To request a free copy, call 888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332), follow prompts 2-1-3-3. The publication is also available on line at www.cfhinfo.org

Medicines and You: A Guide For Older Adults – Also from the FDA and Council on Family Health, this booklet includes tips on safe medicine use, avoiding dangerous drug interactions and cutting medicine costs, as well as a handy diary for keeping track of all your medications. To request a free copy by name, call 888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332), follow prompts 2-1-3-3 or write FDA, Attn: MEDS & YOU, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 12B-31, HFD-210, Rockville, MD 20857

Tips on Visiting Friends and Relatives - Unsure of how to act or what to say when visiting loved ones who are in a hospital or nursing home? The American Health Care Association offers this free brochure with information on scheduling activities and conversation starters to ensure a positive experience for patient and visitor. Call 800-628-8140 or log on to www.longtermcareliving.com

Loving Conversations – Specially prepared by Easter Seals, a trusted name in providing care for families for 80 years, this free booklet will help you and your parents make the best decisions on everything from healthcare and living arrangements to the many organizations that can help. Click here to download the booklet for free from the Easter Seals website.

Books & Videos:

Growing Old in A New Age
A video instructional series on aging for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 13 one-hour video programs Produced in 1993 by The University of Hawaii Center on Aging. Learn about the impact of aging on both society and individuals as 75 diverse elders relate their experiences. The four ways that age is measured — chronologically, biologically, psychologically, and socially — are the basis for discussing the quality of life in later years. While you're on the Web site, you may view the video programs at no charge by clicking on the VoD icon next to the program descriptions.

How To Say It To Seniors (Closing The Communication Gap with Our Elders)
Author: David Solie, published Sept 2004 Prentice Hall Press
Written for baby boomers and their parents, professionals who work with the elderly, and everyone who has regular contact with seniors and finds conversations at times to be an exercise in frustration. It explores the reasons for these frustrations and offers strategies and skills for overcoming these challenges.

The Baby Boomer's Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parent
Author: Gene Williams
For adult children or others who may have to step in and care for their parents in their twilight years, this guide offers help in dealing with doctors, managing legal and financial affairs, meeting their parents' emotional needs with sensitivity, and more.

Eldercare 911: The Caregiver's Complete Handbook for Making Decisions
Author: Susan Beerman, Judith Rappaport-Musson
This comprehensive guidebook offers information on nursing homes, hospice care and home heath professionals and presents information readers may not have considered. For example, the first chapter addresses how to deal directly with one's parents, what to do if the parents don't want help and how to determine if parents, in fact, need help. The authors include sample dialogues, which will be particularly helpful with parents who refuse to acknowledge they need help.

The Comfort of Home: An Illustrated Step-By-Step Guide for Caregivers
Author: Maria M. Meyer, Paula Derr
This book is useful to teach family members how to take care of someone at home. It has clear illustrations, step by step instructions for those tasks caregivers do every day, and a resource listing for those items that help make the job easier. It also has introductions to other areas of care that are informative. This book empowers people without any healthcare education or experience to understand the mechanics of taking care of another person - no matter where they live. If you have family in a nursing home, this book may also help you evaluate the care they receive.

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