"Never Too Late" is a publication of the Pima Council on Aging and is printed during 10 months of the year. The newsletter has a circulation of 21,000 and contains articles which are pertinent and of interest to older adults, family members and professionals in the field. "Never Too Late" is received as a benefit of PCOA membership. Editor is Adina Wingate, Director of Public Relations. Please send questions and comments to: NTL

Click below to read articles from the most recent issue:
Senior Property Valuation Protection Option
Neighbor to Neighborhood Volunteers Help Out Elderly

Click below to read articles from the a past issue:
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes
Senior Pride at Wingspan
"How to" Tips for Avoiding the Cold & Flu This Season

Speakers' Bureau

Pima Council on Aging provides both staff and board members to present educational talks on a wide variety of topics. Some of these include: What is PCOA? - an overview of the multitude of services and programs available (a 10 minute video is often used in this presentation); how to avoid scams; long-term care; Medicare; Social Security; supplemental insurance; pension counseling; holistic health; misconceptions of memory loss and physical decline; dealing with loss and change; caregiving for your parent or spouse. Call Adina Wingate to arrange for a speaker.

Gerontological Resource Library

Whether you're looking for information about Alzheimer's disease or a bill up for consideration before Congress, the Gerontological Resource Library at the Pima Council on Aging is the place to turn. It houses a unique collection of information of importance to the elderly and the people who work with them. Covered are subjects ranging from public policy to health and wellness to long term care; from program planning to current research results.

The collection is comprised of reference books,manuals, newsletters and journals, government documents, statistics and research as well as unpublished information collected from other aging-related agencies and sources. A significant portion is made up of specific training and programmatic materials for use by professionals, either to develop new programs or to provide educational workshops for their peers or directly to older persons. There is also a collection of video and audio tapes which are available for loan.

The library has the capacity to conduct internet and other kinds of on-line searches for current information from national and local databases, and can access computerized University and public libraries and special collections.

Eligibility: While the library is intended as a resource for administrators, planners, and social service providers in the field of aging, every effort is made to help anyone needing specific information regarding the older population. A professional librarian, Melissa Morgan, is available by appointment to provide assistance.


Neighbors Care Alliance

The purpose of NCA is to assist neighborhoods & faith communities in creating or strengthening volunteer caregiver programs. The goal is to help seniors remain independent and in their homes as long as possible. It also provides additional resources and support to their caregivers. The Alliance is a partnership between Pima Council on Aging (PCOA), Northwest Interfaith Center (NWIC), Catalina Community Services and Old Fort Lowell Live-At-Home Program. The latter three have long-established volunteer caregiver programs.

Depending on the needs of the community, NCA will help set up or strengthen a volunteer caregiver program to provide services such as friendly visits, run errands, grocery shopping, telephone reassurance, rides to and from appointments, help with house or yard, light housekeeping, meal preparation, respite, etc.

The Neighbors Care Alliance can help your community connect with surrounding neighborhoods/faith communities and help you collectively pull together to develop or strengthen a volunteer caregiver program. We will help you determine what the needs are in your community. Based on the type of services needed, we will help you begin to recruit, train and support volunteers.

Regular meetings and other communication means will be used to provide the opportunity for the NCA Program Coordinators to meet and exchange information about their programs, review "best practice" ideas and receive information on other services that are available to seniors in their programs. For information about the program or to arrange a meeting to explore starting a program, contact the Alliance Outreach Coordinator at 790-0504.


Aging Links

• Administration on Aging
  
  
• Alzheimer's Association
  
  
• American Association of Retired Persons
  
  
• American Society on Aging
  
  
• Arizona Advance Directive Registry
  
  
• Arizona Caregivers
  
  
• Eldercare Locator
  
  
• Elderhostel
  
  
• Family Caregiver Alliance
  
  
• "First Gov for Seniors"- an official US government web portal
  
  
• Gerontological Society of America
  
  
• Law for Seniors
  
  
• National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
  
  
• National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
  
  
• National Caucus and Center on Black Aged
  
  
• National Center for Elder Abuse
  
  National Clearinghouse for Long-term Care Information
  
  
• National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
  
  
• National Council on the Aging
  
  
• National Family Caregivers Association
  
  
• National Hispanic Council on Aging
  
  
• National Senior Citizens Law Center
  
  
• NIH Senior Health
  
  
• OASIS - Tucson
  
  
• State of Arizona Aging & Adult Administration
  
  
  

	Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier,and More Meaningful Lives by David Snowdon
Amazon Book Description - " This remarkable book by one of the world's leading experts on Alzheimer's disease combines fascinating high-tech research on the brain with the heartfelt story of the aging nuns who are teaching scientists how we grow old - and how findings already helps scientists unlock the secrets to living a longer, healthier life"
	Consumer Reports Complete Guide to Health Services for Seniors : What Your Family Needs to Know About Finding and Financing, Medicare, Assisted Living, Nursing Homes, Home Care, Adult Day Care by Trudy Lieberman
Amazon Book Description - "Whether you're exploring options for yourself or for your aging parents, you know that navigating the world of health care services and long-term-care facilities can be a daunting task. Consumer Reports, unrivaled in its unbiased expertise, provides the essential guide to getting the best care. "
	Fifty and Beyond : The Law You and Your Parents Need to Know by Kenney F. Hegland, Allan D. Bogutz
From Elder Law Issues, September 27, 1999 "Written by University of Arizona law professor Kenney Hegland and fellow Tucson elder law attorney (and friendly competitor) Allan Bogutz, "Fifty and Beyond" neatly avoids one of the problems so often faced in legal writing for a general audience. Although much depends on local or state laws, much is also common among different states Hegland and Bogutz have generalized where necessary, but never at the expense of useful and detailed information...Most importantly, however, "Fifty and Beyond" is fun to read." From Bifocal, Volume 20, Number 1 "If you could cross an encyclopedic legal reference with the down-home philosophy and wit of a Will Rogers you might come up with a book like Fifty and Beyond."
	Deja Views of an Aging Orphan by Sam George Arcus (Sam Arcus is a semi-retired MSW social worker who monitors nursing homes through the Long Term Care Advocates Program for Pima Council on Aging.)
Book description - "Deja Views of an Aging Orphan" is distinctive, if not unique, in its views and experiences of still alive Hebrew National Orphan Home alumni and its use of a variety of literary styles including the memoir, the essay, news articles, poems, history, short story and letters. Many provide first-person accounts of growing up in an orphanage in the 1920s and 30s and it is this first-person recounting that breaks new ground and casts new light on the subject of child-care --of such importance to society and its social policy-making."
	Handbook for Volunteers in the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program by Sam George Arcus
Please Note: This book is not available through Amazon.com but may be ordered by contacting Pima Council on Aging directly. Phone: 520-790-7262; Fax: 520-790-7577. Individual copies are $14.75 including postage. Book description: "The Handbook focuses on the specifics of facility visitations, relating to residents, staff and administration and how to resolve small gripes and complaints and thus prevent them from escalating into major issues of abuse, neglect and exploitation...It also offers many practical hints and suggestions for avoiding burnout and for being an effective ombudsman and thus is also helpful to state ombudsmen, supervisors and coordinators. But its many practical "strategies " are equally helpful to family members and friends who have loved ones in nursing homes and other long term care facilities."
	The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons with Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life by Nancy L. Mace, Peter V. Rabins MD, Paul R. McHugh
Amazon Book Description - "Updated with the newest information on Alzheimer's Disease and dementia, this bestselling book has remained the "bible" for families who are giving care to afflicted loved ones."
	Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
Amazon Book Description - "This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship?"