If you are over 65 years old or are a caregiver, provider or otherwise responsible for an elder, this is for you. Think about this:

Mary is 82 and lives alone on Martha’s Vineyard. Her husband died last fall. Her daughter who lives in New York has visited several times over the winter but can’t continue these frequent visits. She is concerned about her mother’s driving and would also like to make some alterations to her bathroom for safety. She thinks her mother would benefit from some regularly scheduled activities but her mother says she doesn’t want to only be with “old people.” She also wants someone to wash the outside windows and clean gutters. She would like her mother to get more comfortable with the internet so she can stay in touch with her granddaughter in college. Mary once took a poetry writing course but let that drop when her husband became ill.

Who would you call:

• To explore alternative transportation options for her mother?

• To install grab bars in her mother’s bathroom and clean her windows and gutters?

• To find out if there is a poetry writing class, a computer class, or other group activities her mother might enjoy?

Many of you may be lucky enough not to know the answers to these questions because you haven’t needed these programs or services or you aren’t the caregiver of someone who does. In most cases the need for information about elder services comes suddenly as a result of an unexpected medical emergency or sudden change in circumstances. When that happens, where can you get the information you need?

First Stop, an information and resource service, will be the one place to go when you need information about programs and services for elders (home care, respite care, a ramp, a ride, repairs, etc.) It’s a comprehensive, searchable, and up-to-date website accessible by all users that will include services available on and off-Island. Most importantly, you can call by phone and a knowledgeable Healthy Aging Task Force staff person will help you find what you need (the phone will be staffed eight hours a day, five days a week). It will have useful information and links to resources both state and national for elders and caregivers dealing with the wide range of issues we face as we age.

The entire U.S. will feel the impact of the aging baby boomer population over the next 20 years, but few places will feel it as much as the Vineyard. The Donahue Institute at University of Massachusetts projects a dramatic increase in the Island’s senior population over the next 20 years (in 2010 one in six Islanders was over 65, but by 2030 it will be one in three). The boomer generation doesn’t want to retire and move into a senior setting, they want to stay in their homes as long as possible, remain active in their community, receiving services there instead of going to a nursing home. In fact, older adults who have knowledge about the availability of supportive services are more likely to expect to age in place, a good thing since the Island doesn’t have any assisted living facilities. That said, seniors are living longer and will need daily assistance to live in their homes.

The 2013 Rural Scholars (UMass Medical School students) conducted a survey of programs and services to meet the needs of our growing elder population and make recommendations. First Stop — a comprehensive single place to get information and referral for services and resources — was their top priority. They found there was a wealth of great programs and services for elders on the Island, and that the councils on aging provide good information. However, the scholars found most people don’t know about the full range of programs and resources, and there is no one place where they are available. First Stop is designed to close the information gap and help Island elders, their families and caregivers (on and off Island), the councils on aging, Island doctors and nurses, other service providers, and the general public get the information they need. There is currently no other comprehensive source of information for elders (print or web-based).

First Stop has a donation that will pay for the cost of designing and launching the website. But all six towns must vote to fund it. You can do this by voting yes on the Healthy Aging Task Force First Stop in your town, even if you don’t need it. Yet.

Cindy Doyle
Chilmark

The writer is a member of the Healthy Aging Task Force.