Taylor County residents are increasingly facing the challenges that arise with aging. Residents are often lost in making financial, medical, and quality-of-life decisions. Although resources are available to assist with aging in Taylor County, many residents still do not understand what these resources are or how to utilize them. Often, this results in confusion and anxiety, preventing many from making the best decisions for their situations, or simply not utilizing resources at all. This issue impacts not only seniors, but also family members and caregivers.

To educate the Taylor County community on resources available to seniors, a Senior Resource Summit was held at the Taylor County Cooperative Extension Office in partnership with Hosparus Health and Taylor Regional Hospital. The Senior Resource Summit consisted of four speaker panels on various topics related to aging and caregiving, and over 20 vendors from across the community. The topics discussed during the speaker panels included preparation for aging expenses, understanding hospitalization, proper caregiving, and understanding pharmacy insurance and expenses. Each speaker panel had time for questions and answers from the audience, in addition to tangible resources to bring home. Vendors offered business cards and information on their services related to aging, such as housing, insurance, etc. The goal of the Senior Resource Summit was to educate seniors, families, and caregivers on resources available to assist with aging and how to choose the resources that work best for individual situations.

The target audience of the Senior Resource Summit was primarily seniors, but also family members and caregivers of seniors. The program was advertised across Taylor County through various media platforms, including flyers, newsletters, Facebook posts, and radio station advertisements. Primarily seniors attended the Senior Resource Summit, though many attended with their family members and caregivers. Both the speaker panels and vendors provided resources primarily intended for seniors. However, these resources were also useful for family members and caregivers to know what services their seniors may prefer, and how to be an effective caregiver. The speaker panel most targeted to family members and caregivers was the AARP Prepare to Care panel, which provided participants with the AARP Prepare to Care Booklet and explained how to utilize this resource. Overall, all target audiences attended and were provided with the information and resources they needed.

The partners sponsoring the Senior Resource Summit were Hosparus Health, Taylor Regional Hospital, and Taylor County Cooperative Extension Office. The primary representatives from each partner were Jennifer Van Mersbergen (Hosparus Health Community Outreach Manager), Rachael Thompson (Taylor Regional Hospital Marketing and Public Relations Director), and myself. Jennifer Van Mersbergen was the main coordinator of the event, having attempted to plan a Senior Resource Summit in the past that was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her roles and responsibilities included coordinating speakers and vendors. Rachael Thompson was primarily in charge of marketing the event on the radio and recording the speaker panels during the program. As an employee of the Taylor County Extension Office, the location of the program, I was in charge of figuring out the logistics of how the event would be set up and took charge of the sound system. I also coordinated a caterer for the event, which was the Taylor County Extension Homemakers. Each partner in the Senior Resource Summit played an important role and successfully completed each task. This effective teamwork helped to make the program a success.

Overall, the community's response to the Senior Resource Summit was overwhelmingly positive. Over 80 people participated on the evening of the program, and even more called the Taylor County Extension Office about information from the event in the days following. All three partners received positive feedback from participants both during and after the program, and some even shared their experiences via social media platforms. Hosparus Health, Taylor Regional Hospital, and the Taylor County Extension Office will be hosting another Senior Resource Summit next year, hoping that this become an annual event. Partners plan to meet within the next few weeks to discuss both the successes and shortcomings of the program and how to improve it for next year. It was motivating to witness the overwhelmingly positive response from the community and receive feedback about how the Senior Resource Summit benefitted their experiences as seniors, family members, and caregivers.