Lifespan Respite of Union County

If you are caring for someone in your family with a disability or illness… who is caring for you?

Respite care is temporary, short-term care for an individual with special needs such as:

• Developmental and Physical disabilities
• Mental Illness
• Emotional or Behavioral disorders
• Chronic Illness
• Alzheimer's and related disorders
• Medical Fragility
• Those at risk of abuse or neglect

Before the stress of long-term care affects your relationships, your health, your life… get some respite! Respite provides families and caregivers with the relief they need to stay healthy. It also helps families to continue to live together and provide at-home care for a loved one.

Letter of Support for National Lifespan Bill

Links to Prescription Drug Help

Links to Caregiver Resources

Photos of the Lifespan Projects from this spring.

Forms for families and providers.

National Respite Care Bill

Send a letter in Support of the Lifespan Bill.
Status: Your Representatives will be in their home districts until January 20, 2004. They need to hear from you now about how important this bill is for your family and community. The goal is to have quick action on the bill as soon as they return in late January so that the bill does not get mired in election year politics and conflicting priorities. The Senate has already passed the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2003 (S.538). The House must now take action and we need your help to make this happen. Although the House has introduced a bipartisan companion bill (H.R. 1083) with 88 cosponsors, the fastest route to final passage would be for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to simply release the Senate-passed bill for House floor consideration --a strategy often used for non-controversial, bipartisan bills.
You can contact Rep. Greg Walden at:
1404 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Ph: (202) 225-6730
Fax: (202) 225-5774
e-mail: greg.walden@mail.house.gov

Or send an automatic letter by visiting the web site at AUCD, and filling out a simple registration.

Senator Clinton's Congressional Record statement on the bill's introduction.

New side-by-side summaries of the bill, the latest list of endorsing organizations, and other relevant information will be posted shortly at the
Lifespan Respite Task Force web site.

"Afternoon of Respite" Flyer
(74k)

Information and sign-up pack
(9k)

Photos of Lifespan Projects
Photos from "An Afternoon of Respite" on May 3, 2003 and the "Pioneer Park Pollution Patrol" May 17, 2003.
(These take a minute to load so be patient).

Links Related To Caregiving:

Oregon Lifespan Home Page: http://www.sdsd.hr.state.or.us/lifespan/index.htm

Oregon Caregiving Resource Center: Includes the Family Caregiver Resource Guide, an online manual that covers most common problems that family caregivers face. http://oregoncares.org/

ARCH National Respite Resources: includes information, search for local respite programs, for all ages. http://www.chtop.com/archbroc.htm

National Family Caregivers Association: http://www.nfcacares.org/

National Alliance for Caregiving: offers ratings of hundreds of Web sites, books, videos etc. www.caregiving.org

Family Caregiver Alliance: includes news, information, resources, and online communities for long-term caregivers. www.caregiver.org

Oregon Helps; an online assessment of eligibility for a variety of state services, including Food Stamps, the Oregon Health Plan, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and several other services. www.oregonhelps.org

American Association of Retired Persons: www.aarp.org

ElderWeb: www.elderweb.com

National Council on Aging: assesses needs and financial situation, then lists eligible services. www.benefitscheckup.org

Medicare Providers by region: www.medicare.gov

Area Agency on Aging: local contact. www.eldercare.gov

Your local Lifespan Network is a one-stop source for respite care information.

Lifespan can help with the following services:

• Connect families with respite care providers.
• Connect families with payment resources.
• Guide families using respite care for the first time.
• Provide learning materials regarding respite and in-home care.
• Recruit and train respite care providers.
• Provide community education about respite care.
• Strive to increase the resources available for respite care.

For more information on:

Family registration by mail.
(19k)

Becoming a respite care provider; print out application form.
(24k)

Requesting a guest speaker for your organization.

Donating to the Lifespan Network.
(8k)

Volunteering your time to help.
(11k)

Finding public computers to access Lifespan web site.
(6k)

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required for all printable forms. You can download it by clicking above.

Please contact the Union County Lifespan Coordinator at:
Phone: 1.541.963.7276 x261
E-mail: espangler@chdinc.org
Fax: 1.541.963.2906
Integrated Services Building
1607 Gekeler Lane
La Grande, OR 97820
http://www.chdinc.org

Try the following Internet sources for help in obtaining medications for reduced cost or free.

www.phrma.org Screens by drug name for manufacturers’ patient-assistance programs.

www.medicarecenters.org Lists contact information and details about state and private assistance programs, discount cards, mail-order pharmacies and Internet based discount programs.

www.needymeds.com NeedyMeds is the place to learn about patient assistance programs and other programs designed to help those who can't afford their medicines.

www.togetherRX.com Together Rx is a prescription savings program that provides savings to eligible Medicare enrollees on more than 150 widely prescribed medicines–right at the pharmacy counter.

www.costco.com Costco Online pharmacy; a source for buying online at reduced prices (free shipping).

www.themedicineprogram.com The Medicine program assists patients with programs that provide prescription medicine free-of-charge to individuals who meet the sponsor's criteria. Processing fee of $5.00 for each drug applied for. Application by Mail.