Navigating the maze of senior care can be overwhelming and confusing. But there are solutions – and a May 19 community discussion will offer up dozens.

Engage As You Age, a company that provides social visits for isolated seniors, has organized Senior Care 101: A panel discussion with a range of experts at the Burlingame Recreation Social Hall.

Seniors and their loved ones (spouses, children and caregivers) are invited and encouraged to attend the free event. Participants include a geriatric psychologist, a fiduciary and financial planner, a social worker, ombudsman, therapist and concierge.

Engage As You Age’s founder, Ben Lewis, has led more than a dozen of these panels in Marin and San Francisco. The interactive sessions can be tremendous learning opportunities, he said.

“Whether people chime in during the town-hall style meeting or come up afterward and ask panelists in private for help—everyone gets their questions answered one way or the other,” Lewis said.

The panel will offer those in the audience advice and connect them with community resources, including those that are free. The goal is to provide community people with actionable information to help them address their immediate eldercare, life-planning issues and also learn how to proactively tackle common challenges that people face as they age. Homecare, caregiving and many other topics will be addressed.

DETAILS—

What: Senior Care 101

When: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, May 19

Where: Burlingame Recreation Social Hall, 850 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame.

In the last few weeks both Bette Boomer and Watch Start-Up Cafe have profiled Engage As You Age. The Bette Boomer website wrote that “we encourage everyone in the [San Francisco] Bay Area needing companionship for their loved ones to visit this website.” Like Engage As You Age, Bette Boomer hopes that “this idea spreads to more regions across the country to keep our elders healthy, happy and active.”

Our goal at Engage As You Age is to ensure that elders and seniors (and what a game of semantics it can be on that front!) are socially connected and having meaningful interactions with people that share their interests (which isn’t always the case with a caregiver or an employee hired by a caregiving agency).

Below is the Watch Start-Up Cafe video profile of Engage As You Age:

The article discusses how Ben met an amazing 91-year-old woman named Anna in San Francisco and how he learned first-hand from visiting her how important one-to-one social interactions are for seniors. This experience made Ben aware that social isolation wasn’t cured simply by having someone (such as a caregiver or senior companion) nearby but by ensuring that seniors have someone that they genuinely enjoyed spending time with in their lives.

Learn about skype and seniors, the pros and cons of seniors using Ipads and also about many other devices such as Presto that allow families to keep in touch and stay within everyone’s comfort zone.

If you know a senior that has had computer lessons or someone who is asking about computer lessons for seniors you’ll find out about great resources (in addition to Engage As You Age) that can help a senior surf the internet in no time.

So far we’ve read the first half of Sinan Antoon’s I’Jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody and Engage As You Age’s Dr. Adrian McIntyre has facilitated the discussions and had a great time doing it. Both before and after the class we’ve heard from participants that seniors in Mill Valley and seniors in Marin County (throughout) aren’t satisfied with the current classes for seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area. We’re happy to help out and provide great programs for seniors.

Please also don’t forget that some people can’t physically come to programs for seniors (such as the book group). We engage many of these homebound seniors in conversation and activities at their place of residence. This allows them to age in place and stay socially connected (and have a fun time!). Contact us at 415-690-6944 if you’d like to learn more.

If you’ve considered using services for seniors, hired a caregiver, considered caregiving for an aging parent or want companionship for a senior than we’d love to talk to you about how we can help. We’ve provided a respite for many baby boomers by providing fun social visits for their aging parent and we’ve provided computer lessons for seniors and lots of laughs for many other San Francisco Bay Area seniors.

The last two years have been amazing and we believe that 2011 will be our best year yet. Happy New Year and we wish everyone a fun and engaged 2011.

An Open Book in Old Age: Start-Up Partners with Berkeley Publisher to Offer Marin Seniors Specialized Book Group

San Francisco, CA (December 14, 2010) — Marin seniors will soon have an opportunity to participate in a free book group tailored to their needs, interests and perspectives.

Thanks to a partnership between the S.F.-based start-up Engage As You Age and the Berkeley-based Small Press Distributors, Marin seniors can join a six-session book group facilitated by an accomplished anthropologist and journalist. The two organizations share a vision to bring high-level conversation and social stimulation to all seniors.

Engage As You Age provides one-on-one, individualized social visits to homebound or isolated seniors, and also provides history, politics and theater workshops at assisted living facilities in the Bay Area. The book group is an extension of this meaningful work, said Ben Lewis, founder and owner of Engage.

“Reading doesn’t have to be a solo endeavor,” Lewis said. “This book group speaks to the growing number of smart seniors who crave a literary social outlet just for them.”

The book group begins Jan. 14 and will meet Fridays from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. through Feb. 18 at the Mill Valley Recreation Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley. SPD is also partnering with the Marin Free County Library to sponsor three other senior book groups, including one in Spanish, at various locations in Marin.

Participants will receive free copies of SPD’s books: “I’jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody,” by Sinan Antoon, and “Khirbet Khizeh,” by S. Yizhar.

Both novels are set in the Middle East and explore the tumult of Sadaam Hussein’s Iraq and newly-independent Israel. The facilitated sessions are also free of charge thanks to support from the Marin Community Foundation.

Lewis tapped Oakland resident Adrian McIntyre to lead the six-session group. McIntyre has spent the past 12 years working as an archaeologist, educator, journalist and humanitarian aid worker. He reported for Newsweek during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, and has worked for aid organizations in Baghdad and Darfur. McIntyre earned a doctorate in cultural anthropology from U.C. Berkeley in 2010.

McIntyre also works for Engage As You Age. “I visit a 90-year old man every week in Berkeley, and I’m inspired by Engage’s efforts to revitalize seniors’ lives through meaningful and stimulating conversation.”

• Interested seniors can sign up for the book group by calling Engage As You Age at (415) 690-6944.

About Small Press Distribution:

SPD is a Berkeley-based literary arts organization that distributes independently published books from around the world. The book group is part of SPD’s “I Remember Project,” a program that seeks to actively engage seniors via literature by making SPD’s books available to them in book groups.

About Engage As You Age:

Engage As You Age creates inter-generational connections between creative people and homebound or isolated older adults and seniors to stimulate and enhance cognitive and social interactions while giving immediate family members some welcome respite from continuing care responsibilities.

Villages are up and running (Sausalito Village which is part of Marin Village) and Senior Care 101 Panels continue to inform residents throughout the county about the myriad of resources that are out there for them. So far we’ve had great senior care discussions in Tiburon, San Rafael, Larkspur and now Mill Valley will host a Senior Care 101 panel this month.

The Mill Valley Senior Care 101 event is FREE to the public and a great opportunity to learn about services for seniors in Marin. If you live in Mill Valley we’ll make sure that you know about ever mill valley event for seniors in 2011.

Engage As You Age will have some exciting announcements about some senior activities in Mill Valley that will begin in January. We’ll announce those exciting (and FREE) events next week. If you are interested in literature about the Middle East you’ll definitely want to learn more so come back to the blog next week and we’ll spill the beans!

Please contact us at 415-690-6944 if you have any questions about the Senior Care 101 panels or about services for seniors in Marin or anywhere else in the San Francisco Bay Area. If a senior needs homecare, caregiving, geriatric care management or anything else we’d be happy to point you in a helpful direction.

The event is sponsored by the San Rafael Public Library and is a great opportunity for elders, seniors, baby boomers, caregivers, and anyone else interested in learning about what resources are available for seniors in Marin County. This event is all about the audience so don’t be shy if you have questions about Alzheimer’s, dementia, homecare, assisted living or any other resources for seniors in Marin County.

The talk will be lead by Engage As You Age’s founder Ben Lewis and will feature Tessa ten Tusscher, Kim Schwarcz, Mimi Schrieber, David Kitaen, and Marc Kreissman. This great panel has expertise in geriatric psychiatry, homecare, dementia, Alzheimer’s, long-term care insurance, financial planning, caregiving, fiduciary issues and we’ll also have a few surprise guests that can help fill in the gaps.

Please come if you or a loved one would benefit from learning about resources for seniors in Marin County.

The address is for the event is : 1400 5th Avenue, San Rafael, CA

Ben Lewis from Engage As You Age will be one of four panelists. He’ll focus on how the children of seniors (often baby boomers) can ensure that their parents remain (or in some cases become for the first time) socially engaged. He’ll provide a brief overview of the studies that point towards the health benefits of being socially engaged in meaningful conversations and also provide tips and tricks on how to socialize the most reluctant seniors. If you’ve got a relative, a friend or are just curious, this is a great opportunity to learn different ways in which you can help an elder find meaning in the later stages of their life.

The panel will also feature the Managing Director of a geriatric care management company in San Francisco. He’ll outline how geriatric care managers in San Francisco create and coordinate a healthcare planning team.

An investment advisor will address longevity planning and discuss ways in which you can create an income stream for life. Finally, a senior-move specialist will outline best practices on how to help a senior transition from moving to their home to an assisted living facility or a smaller residence. If you’ve given thought to aging in place this is an opportunity to learn about how downsizing affords many people the opportunity to avoid moving into an assisted living facility in the San Francisco Bay area.

So, come to Franklin Templeton Investments on Tuesday, November 9th from 12pm till 1:30 pm. They’ll even provide lunch!

They’re located at:

One Franklin Parkway

Building 920, Fund Board Room A & B

San Mateo, CA 94403

Contact us if you’d like to learn more about this event.