AARP & Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service Partner To Help Thousands Of Family Caregivers

AARP Oklahoma and Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service are teaming up to help thousands of current and future family caregivers in communities across the state get the resources and education they need to care for their loved ones.

The two organizations announced a new partnership to develop resources, tool kits and educational opportunities focused on caregiving. Announcing the partnership, AARP said it has launched a caregiving text campaign that will connect Oklahomans to caregiving resources from AARP and Cooperative Extension Service. 

Simply text the word ‘CARE’ to 79640 for caregiving information at your fingertips. This will provide you with a quick link to the site with tools, information and other resources for caregiving. 

“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 AARP Oklahoma State Director Sean Voskuhl. “We are excited about the opportunity to work with Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, especially since they have such a strong presence through county Extension offices in local communities across the state.”

Dr. Whitney Bailey, Extension Caregiving Specialist at Oklahoma State University, says Cooperative Extension will join with AARP to host a statewide caregiving webinar August 5th and work to develop an Oklahoma caregiving tool kit.  We encourage everyone to register for the upcoming webinar  called ‘Caring for Oklahoma Caregivers- Understanding the CARE Act and state resources that will help you care for a loved one”  The event is August 5, 2015 at 3pm. Register now at www.Newson6.com/care.

AARP strongly advocated for Oklahoma to become the first state in the nation to pass the CARE Act last year. The new law allows a patient to designate a caregiver when they are admitted to the hospital and calls for caregivers to be notified before the patient is discharged and consulted on how to care for the patient after they return home.

Two easy ways to access caregiving resources and information for you or your loved ones are through our landing page at www.Newson6.com/care.