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Vol. 19, No. 12
December 7, 2022
Area VI Agency on Aging expands service area By Taylor Davison Valley Journal
WWAMI pg. 8
Sports pg. 14
Parade pg. 18
POLSON — The Area VI Agency on Aging has expanded their service area, now offering assistance to seniors and the disabled on a broader scale. A separate entity from the Lake County Council on Aging, the agency is a private nonprofit responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering services in different counties in Montana under the Older Americans Act for anyone elderly, aging, or disabled. Though the primary office for Area VI is based in Polson, the agency now serves Lake, Sanders, Mineral, and Lincoln Counties, the Flathead Reservation, and clients in northern Idaho and eastern Washington as well. Contracted with several entities in the region including senior centers, veterans’ groups, and other organizations on aging, the agency coordinates assistance to seniors throughout the four counties and three states, along with offering
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some direct services of their own. “It gives (people) the opportunity to remain in their homes, and that really is our overall goal to try to provide services to seniors and the disabled,” explained Director Lori Thibodeau-Seay. “If we can possibly keep people in our area - and in the area they want to be in - and in their home as long as possible
through the aging process by finding ways to provide them services, that’s really the overall goal of the agency.” One of the agency’s inhouse services throughout their service areas is the State Health Insurance Program (SHIP), which provides one-onone counseling to the elderly and disabled in their hometowns to help them understand Medi-
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care and Medicaid, as well as private and LongTerm Care insurance. A free program, SHIP helps answer important questions such as what government health services one might qualify for, what medical services are offered by Medicare and Medicaid, and what factors in the party’s life should be considered when deciding on insurance.
Their options counseling goes beyond insurance as well, meeting with clients and their families to take a more in depth look at what help is needed. Some involve assessments for the caregiver and offer referrals and resources within the caregiver’s community. The state provides respite care, for instance, to allow caregivers a small break
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