Dr. Sue Schneider
At August’s Senior Education network meeting, Dr. Sue Schneider with CSU Larimer County Extension, explained their new website (Larimerservices.gov) and program in collaboration with Partnership for Age Friendly Communities (PAFC), and Larimer County Office on Aging. Their mission is to coordinate and communicate to seniors about the different local senior resource services.
Interestingly, our senior population (60 and over) has doubled since the 1950s and comprises of 25% of the total population in Colorado. Senior Access Points of Larimer County website was created to help seniors in need in finding critical resources immediately on key issues. Sue and her group did a focus group survey among Larimer County seniors on the following issues: 1) declining health issues, 2) caregiver support, 3) home care services, 4) dementia, and 5) housing.
Some of the survey statistics indicated 47% of the senior respondents look at Larimer County’s Office on Aging website, 31% look Dr. Sue Schneider for doctor’s offices, and 31% do online searches, and 38% favor the Aspen Club.
PAFC implemented a nine-person Ambassador pilot program during the first half of 2018 that selected individuals who visited 87 urban Larimer County sites comprised of financial planners, book clubs, libraries, medical facilities, social workers, retirement villages, and other community personnel. The ambassadors met with these groups to ask questions and educate them on the senior access point website.
The next phase of their program includes a rural outreach program which will expand the ambassador program to the outlying areas in the county, add new “agency ambassadors” to implement their outreach program, create several educational videos representing their ambassadors and county residents for their website, and implement a county wide marketing program to promote the program and website.
For more information on local senior resources, please visit their updated website at www.larimerseniors.org.