21st annual Caregiver Conference takes place Friday

Are you a caregiver?

Do you help a family member with:

• Personal care, such as bathing and/or getting dressed?
• Running errands?
• Grocery shopping, meal planning or preparation?
• Medication management?
• Bill paying, paperwork or financial assistance?
• Transportation?
• Living arrangements?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, you have joined the growing number of family caregivers in the United States.

Most of us will be caregivers at some time in our lives. We may care for a parent, spouse, other relatives or a friend. It may be for a few hours, a week or all day every day.

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That is why the Caregiver Consortium is presenting the 21st Annual Caregiver Conference on Friday, Nov. 18. Family caregivers and professionals will receive information to help them be prepared for the role both practically and emotionally.

The keynote speaker will be Sandy Markwood, CEO at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging . The organization represents the nation’s 629 Area Agencies on Aging, including Pima Council on Aging in Tucson, and serves as a champion for more than 246 Title VI Native American aging programs. in Washington, D.C.

Markwood will explore how community supports can help family caregivers map their pathway forward as a caregiver. She will talk about the support offered by the National Family Caregiver Support Program and ways in which local communities are re-thinking community design to embrace people of all ages, including those with cognitive impairments.

Before joining association, Markwood worked at the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities and as the Assistant to the County Executive in Albemarle County, Virginia. She provided policy and program support to counties and cities throughout the U.S. on aging, health, housing, community development, land use, transportation, environmental quality, and workforce development issues.

Three other local experts will talk about legal issues, socio-psychological support, and end-of-life care. The final guest speaker will be David Fitzsimmons, cartoonist, humor columnist and blogger for the Star.