Many people love shopping at Wal-Mart Super Centers or a Super Target because everything is located in one place. You don’t need to drive to four separate stores for your groceries, prescriptions, glasses and flowers; you can get it all with one stop.

Recently, a new program being administered by the Caddo Council on Aging (CCOA) is offering a type of “one-stop shopping” for seniors and the disabled in the area: the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) of Northwest Louisiana.

This new program will not only keep you from having to go all over the place to find the appropriate resources you need, it may also save you money.

Mary Alice Rountree, executive director of CCOA, is excited about the program. Although the program has been offered locally for over a year, a lot of people still don’t know about it, she said. Also, ADRCs are a relatively new premise, though some states have had them longer than Louisiana.

The goal of an ADRC is “to create a single, coordinated system of information and access for all persons seeking long term support. We will provide the facts you need so you can make the best decision on long term support options.”

“The Aging and Disability Resource Centers don’t perform the services,” Rountree said. “(For example), they don’t deliver meals but they would refer people to parish (locations) for meals. (We) would help direct them the right way. (It’s) walking someone down the right road of where to go get the resources.”

The ADRC can provide options counseling to help people understand their options, both immediate and long-range, in regards to personal care. Benefits counseling provided by the center helps people locate and apply for benefits such as private insurance, food stamps, Medicare and Medicaid. Employment options counseling will help people learn of job opportunities available to them. Referrals to area services and programs can be provided, as well as crisis intervention in cases where there is an immediate danger to the health or welfare of an individual.

Often, a person has heard of programs that might be beneficial to them, but they don’t know how to go about finding out if they are eligible. The eligibility screening provided by the ADRC can answer those questions and start the ball rolling towards assistance.

It has been a challenge to get the word out that while the CCOA serves just Caddo Parish; the ADRC of Northwest Louisiana actually serves the disabled and aging in nine parishes: Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Bienville, Red River, DeSoto, Sabine and Natchitoches.

Most people think the CCOA is only for seniors, but the ADRC is for both the aging and anyone over the age of 21 who is disabled.

“It is a much bigger reach,” Rountree said.

The ADRC is encouraging people to contact them when it is time to analyze their drug plan in November. It is always a good idea to re-analyze each year. People can call the ADRC and they can do that over the phone and send the person the results.

Though it is administered by CCOA, the ADRC is funded by separate legislative funding. It is incorporated through the SenioRx program.

SenioRx is a very popular program offered by the ADRC. The center is able to fill out applications for clients and send them to the drug companies to see if they qualify for free prescriptions. Rountree said they do a “tremendous amount of that.”

Irene Jackson is manager of the ADRC of Northwest Louisiana. She and a staff of three have been working hard to help the aging and disabled persons in the area find the services and assistance they need.

Jackson is happy with the response the center has gotten so far, but wishes more people knew about it.

“We have people that are surprised when we tell them that we do prescription drugs,” said Jackson. “People who are low-income and don’t have insurance and need medicine, we help them do that. Many people, to me, never seemed to have heard of the Caddo Council on Aging - and it has been here for years.”

Jackson said several people have found the ADRC through the LouisianaANSWERSwebsite. People have called from outside the area that have relatives living here to find out about getting help for their loved one. Jackson said they can help when these family members need a ramp built for a loved one’s home or need to arrange meal delivery. Relatives often want to find out what can be done to keep their loved one in their own home for as long as possible. This is just the sort of thing that the ADRC can help with. They can cut down on the leg-work and time commitment that so often is a part of searching for services.

Jackson has been spending a lot of time traveling to locations in the nine parishes the center serves to implement a new program. The center is providing jump drives, or memory sticks, that they load with all of the medications a client is currently taking. Information on blood type and prior surgeries can also be included. When the client visits a doctor’s office, the jump drive can be quickly read by computer.

The jump drives are highly beneficial in emergencies when the client might be unable to speak. Emergency room staff can read the jump drive and gain vital information quickly. In natural disasters, such as hurricanes, a person who is forced to quickly evacuate can carry their jump drive with them to an evacuation center to help them obtain their medications.

“One lady called and said she had gone to the doctor the very next day after we did the memory stick for her. She gave it to her doctor and they were surprised, but very happy that she did have that,” Jackson said.

There is no charge for the jump drive and the center can update it for a client as needed.

“Other parts of the country have gotten this going faster than Louisiana,” said Rountree, referring to ADRCs. “This is just the beginning of our second year into it and we have a long way to go with it. And not everything will be free - but it is stretching that dollar as far as you can and staying in your own home as long as you can.”

A growing trend in the groups that serve the aging population is keeping people in their homes for as long as possible. The services provided by the ADRC can go a long way in helping people find the assistance they need to do so.

A person who does not need the full time care a nursing home provides might benefit from Meals on Wheels, a medical alert button, or technological aides provide by Louisiana Assistive Technology Access Network (LATAN).

“The whole big push of senior and disabled services is to keep people in place,” Rountree said. “That is the big push all over the country (and part of that) is to move the Medicaid dollar to not only nursing homes and established living, but to move some of that money to keeping them at home. That will be a big challenge.”

When a person needs full-time care, that is when nursing homes are an important part of the aging process, Rountree added. But, for those who just need a little assistance, they are not only generally happier at home, but it is also less expensive.

Technological advances and the services provided by the ADRC of Northwest Louisiana can go a long way in helping people have a better quality of life in their own homes.

“Louisiana is kind of climbing on board to think of ways to keep our seniors and our aging population at home. Technology, I think, is going to play a big role. Hopefully we will be able to help with this…by telling people about different options they have.”