Youre within three miles away usually. But its not just the physical convenience of being on these best course of america but its the ours. Many of our pharmacies are open 24 hours. If youve got a Young Children weve got drivethrough pharmacies. We have over 400 retail clinics. Nurse practitioners can write prescriptions or treat illnesses. So the idea of convenience after hours on the weekend usually an advantage when perhaps the primary caregivers, providers like your primary care doctor is not inevitable. The second thing is we can find some Important Services for caregivers and seniors. Things like medication management. While the average senior today is on four or five or six medications, and keeping them straight see you can stay healthy is important are these connect interactions. They can be lifesaving but they can enter actions which make it more likely to fall were to be confused and our pharmacies really help support they caregivers, the patients and doctors sort that out there and then there are other Supportive Services that we provide the critical like immunizations which are so for to saving lives and seniors like influenza pneumonia, and was very, very painful, shingles. And files of course the clinics services. The third factor really is frequency. Im a primary care doctor by background and when i was treating seniors i would feel fortune if i got to see them to a three times a year. Andand just as if this is a key might find interesting average diabetic or the caregiver comes to our pharmacy 20 times a year. To pick up prescriptions or supplies. So the opportunity for our pharmacist understand to be supportive of the doctors and patients and caregivers is really unique. So theres three factors continues in the committee and the services that are really are important, and the frequency of connection being on the front line really provides us with a great place to try to make a difference. Thats fantastic. It really is, stepping up to the plate and seeing the need and filling it. We have some questions that were tweeted to his because its 2015. Tweeted to us. We will ask this. This is robert probably for you. I think you can answer this but maybe theres a new answer. Kerala garden from the fitzgerald house in new york city is asking what are the newest plans to a senior veterans . Youve talked about communities. What is the most cutting edge thing you can think of . We mention alzheimers on the panel and i think one of the things thats exciting is the research that we in the vat. We ended the i think are necessary for the medical care veterans but also necessary for american medicine. We have a project we in the va called and million of that project where we of the blood samples of a million veterans who have volunteered. Are not yet at them and were working our way the. We are doing the genome mapping on all those veterans. At the same time for most of them went 40 50 years of medical records because they spent their careers in the military so we have everything that happened in their lives. And that genome mapping, those medical records, are going to be available for research to be done so that we can do research and discover precision medicine. How do we understand using the genome wide medicine to prescribe, how to care for people in order to do a better job of identifying the potential for alzheimers before it occurs. I think this is incredibly exciting, and i think its a very important part of research that we are doing which makes me very optimistic for the future of the getting ahead of some of these diseases before they begin. And with that particular gene pool that you can discover the gene for bravery. Now we have from janus and cheryl on facebook and tammy on twitter, to ask questions about the support we can provide okay, yeah. I think this is a good question for you. Theyre asking for the support we can provide family caregivers. What are the bigger things you most wish you had . I most wish i had convenience. I most, i wish i had come the programs that have come all the great programs that i have been talking about, i call them. I down numerous 800 number than a call and either no one answers the phone or they wont return a phone call or if they do answer, theres another 800 number because i called the wrong department. So that has been a big difficulty of mind to get the resources and the benefits that he needs. So i would like to have more convenient for me basically. Or to have the system work. Right. I think that such an incredible point because theres so many wellintentioned organizations and as you say phone numbers and everything else, but its back and if youre trying to get your car fixed and you cant get through. Imagine dealing with caring for multiple people into to have time to make a call in the first place, it didnt have that kind of runaround. Thats a very interesting problem for anyone to think about how to make the system work better. Aijen, do you have anything to add . I think what it points out is just they need, the way we have to kind of shift our culture and the way we think about our systems, to see caregivers as a huge part of the solution for the future as a huge part of the equation for quality of life. [applause] and four how we can improve as for how we improve not only Health Outcomes but our human relationships, how our systems work. Caregivers who are responsible for their well being and part of life of so many are just an incredible leverage point for the society that we all want to live in. Frank . I just wanted to add that i think at the end of the day when you think about it Dementia Friendly Community, its about supporting the caregiver and easing the burden that we all know they caregivers have insurance of doing the daily things that we all take for granted at times. Switch really about integrating the system, getting away from the silo so that at the end of the day they caregivers and the folks were expressing dementia themselves can live full and rich life. So if you have the disparate parts of the system working together understanding having the awareness and in the tools that are necessary to better support individuals and caregivers, then we are getting somewhere. Thats why we believe strongly that the dementia Friendly Communities are one of the with which were going to do a much better job of supporting britnees out there and the other caregivers. Thats great. I have a question from Katie Barnett with the eldercare workforce alliance. She emailed a question, what can be done to increase and better support for caregiving workforce by which i think shes referring to paid and paraprofessional workers. You mentioned and then, its a good idea spent actually painting is a great idea. Paying a living wage where you can actually take pride in your work, support your family, care for your own loved ones right as a first step. But theres also training and other kinds of support. Want to do things that caregiving is that it can be incredibly isolating both for family caregivers and for professional caregivers. So creating community connections, support, letting every caregiver no that they are valued and that they are a critical part of our economy and our society and our families. [applause] i have sat in on training support groups that the Alzheimers Association has in the new york office. What theyre going through, is incredibly dedicated people and opportunity to just event and learn from each other plus its a very specific, especially within with issues of dementia how you respond to this ever shifting disease, it really takes training and expertise, and thats vital. This im going to toss out to anyone, on the pedal to the National Association of area agencies on aging annual convention in philadelphia is Live Streaming our conference today, and [applause] yes. And to ask via twitter what is the single most important need, caregivers have come at what can the area agencies on aging due to support them . So what do you think anyone . Have the privilege of joining them in philadelphia tomorrow, and they have played Important Role in whats going on in minnesota in terms of supporting the efforts and being the ones that are in the community who understand what the supports are and ensuring those are unavailable to the communities that are learning and building education and awareness and trying to understand what the supports are so that anyone who needs them to take advantage of the. So theyve been very critical in terms of their participation in the Dementia Friendly Community effort, and also Going Forward at the National Level will be very involved in whats happening across the country so we are very happy as a collaborative to be part of that, and we look forward to the evolving judgment involving these communities across the country with the help. I wish is going to sit i think of artistic the most important thing that they could do for caregivers is to find them, that i continue to be ive been working as a spokesperson for the Alzheimers Association to for 20 years, and im still amazed at how many places people just dont know theyre still this stigma about dementia and that disease. And some of it is because culturally different communities and theres different ways of looking at dementia but its just come a continued can also just the isolation of being a caregiver. Your time is taken up taking care. So unless we find ways to reach into peoples homes and say hey guess what, theres a resource theres people you can talk to places you can go, people who will answer the phone, that to me would be the most important thing. Just robert. I would also say from my brief experience in government the second time that collaboration is just incredible important. There are only certain programs you can have on a National Level level, on a state level on a local level. Getting collaboration between all of them so that you have that scale and the import of that skilled in the Program Setting up the program and resources come demographics are destiny. s window people are going to be aging any future because they are a live today. But the same time it got to the human being on the phone line that britnee calls so that you get this Personalized Service and an automated and is not the right answer. So how do you get that collaboration that permeates the entire system, everyone working together so that you get the skill but at the same time you get to customize individual service at the local level . Let me just toss that back. Weve got some people have come from the Business Community come and what you just described sounds to me like out of business would want to be. And, therefore, we sort of know how to make it happen, what do we do to create the kind of collaboration nationwide . I will just make a comment that i think some of the barriers of that happening is this working . Testing. There we go. So some of the barriers i think it could happen to think of the alluded to really are economic, where the funding doesnt exist always enabled a collaboration. So, for example, theres a lot more that we can do to leverage our 8300 stores with often this is because they are open late and on weekends, but we dont always have the mechanisms to compensate them for the work they do. Theres many other caregivers that are in the same providers that are in same boat. I think i do find ways to create Business Models to really compensate folks that are in the community that can provide that care and were chatting about that before the panel. Thats a work in progress, but we make a huge difference. Some of it is economic. Aijen . I wanted to add i think there needs to be a lot of attention on how our aging population is also very diverse your we have lgbt elders, immigrant Elders Elders of color and lots of different needs. And not just in terms of health and different illnesses and conditions that people are living with but also traditions and cultures and quality of life is a deeply tied to so many of those realities. So to the extent that the offices, the area agencies on aging can really be oriented towards cover is the reality of who is aging and what their caregiving needs are changing in the full diversity of who we are as a country, i think that that is a really key priority. [applause] so in minnesota, Blue Cross Blue Shield of minnesota has essentially been living out its mission of making a healthy difference in peoples peoples lives through this work. So we have been focused on creating an atmosphere on the job of being supported to the weve had brown bag lunches where we provide education and create awareness for our employees. We have provided training for our Customer Service representatives so that they can detect issues and then do a better job of helping individuals navigate what is a very complex system. And then going to the point about how do we better support of cultural communities. When the unique ways in which one of the Community Partners has been raising education and awareness is through having written a play called roughly translating to order out of disorder, and the play is based on the reallife experience of three families. So thats one way in which we been able to break through some of those barriers with this work and help people have a better understanding and awareness of the impact on a family. And more poorly that there are people out there who care and support you and provide the resources for not only the individuals expensing the dementia, but they caregivers. [applause] how great that peter can play a role like that. Thats very exciting. Anna eshoo at a time is but does anyone have any questions they want to toss up to us while we are here . Weve got quite a group. [inaudible] pashtun loved ones, from twinkle to ring to. From twinkle cubicle. Considering paid family leave for people who need to take care of from twinkle to wrinkle. Probably an expression ive not heard before. Right now he needs surgery but i cant take off work to be with him. So paid leave would be wonderful. [applause] [inaudible] a wonderful opportunity of the Walgreens Stores to identify. Not only cover the prescription and they will see perhaps an opportunity to bring awareness. [applause] let me just repeat that so for the people at home, the issue of held abuse which is such a plate in this country and that because many of these people come into walgreens thats a great resource to be observant and maybe notice when this is happening. Happening. Com i think its a very important comment. I comment on the frequency of interactions where you have a senior where their caregivers coming 24 times the. Its a great opportunity for our pharmacists develop these relationships and can often pick up subtle things that are really understood i really appreciate the comment and inside. I think its on target. Yes . On sandy, im about to be 82 im from new york city and i make jewish feminist and my big fear is not being able to do what it is i have to do and, therefore, they need caregiving and to go into a system known to be discriminatory homophobic. So im concerned that after all the years ive been an out and acted as im going go back in the closet, both if i need caregiving adult and if i have to go into an institution. So im concerned that the government right into whatever is going on and the Older Americans act, there should be training. First, nondiscriminatory laws. The ship returning from the administrative level down to the caregiving level because things start at the top. I dont want to go into an institution. Poseable i dont ever want to go back into the closet again. Thank you. [applause] thanks. That such an incredible point because we talk about the first commuters, there are all kinds as aijen set of the First Communities to the fact you live in new york city and have that here is very sobering. One is for [inaudible] you mentioned about the program that they had for trained social workers, caregivers. I know that they have social workers in their training programs, but when it is a veteran that needs longterm care, then who pays the bill . Where does the Veterans Administration get in on that . Because it families cant afford to pay a caregiver, then what happens to the the veteran . And number two question is and thats for all of you do you support and believe that home care workers really is worth the 15 an hour . [applause] they are underpaid and they are fighting to get recognition. Edu take your own family. So where do you stand on that . That goes to anyone out there. The interview question is the depends upon the status of the veteran. The application of benefits for veterans is somewhat complex because of the number of laws that have been passed over the years. I think the best way to get an industryspecific question will be to call our caregiver line, and ill repeat that number again, 18552603274 because well need to drill down on the specific status of each veteran to be able to answer the question. And just on the question of 15 of course the work of caregiving and home care workers deserves at least 15 an hour, if not more. [applause] at least. And thats just the first step in what it will take to secure a really strong home care and caregiving workforce, to support a 90 of us who would prefer to age in place at home in our communities connected to our families can live a life on our own terms. I just want to shout out, my grandmothers caregiver she takes care of my grandmother and supports her to live independently, takes her to church so she can be in the Church Senior choir and seeing twice a week so she can play mahjongg with her friends come and you do not want to take her on in mahjongg by the way. And all of that is made possible by the work of mrs. Hassan such as want to recognize her here today spent i think that is a great note on which to wrap up, talking about the great caregiver. Want to thank the panel. I want to thank all of you. And i just want to take a second to thank the president and the congress, miraculous it all moving together to pass the national alzheimers act. We talk about division. There was unity there and we all benefit from th