GPS Caregiver Navigation

GPS Caregiver Navigation Conference

Come join us for a day of learning and support at Riverbend Church. Our GPS Caregiver Navigation event is designed to help caregivers like you navigate the challenges of caring for your loved ones. From expert speakers to interactive workshops, we've got you covered. Connect with other caregivers, gain valuable insights, and leave feeling empowered. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your caregiving journey!

Lunch is provided with vegetarian and gluten free options are available. If you require other accomodations, please feel free to bring your lunch.

This event will also be available virtually via Zoom. A link will be sent prior to the event.

Free respite care is available for pre-registered participants.

Bring new packages of adult incontinence items to "Stuff the Bus" with adult dignity items for the Health Equipment Lending Program at AGE of Central Texas.

Schedule of Events:

8:30am - 9:00am: Check in and Resource Fair; Respite Care Drop Off

9:00am - 9:15am: Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:15am - 10:15am: "Aging with Confidence: Future-Proofing Your Golden Years: Legal, Estate, and End-of-Life Planning" featuring Tracy Willi, Bill Witt and Elizabeth Kingsley. Moderated by Bonnie How, AGE of Central Texas.

10:15am - 10:30am: Break

10:30am - 11:30am: "Voices Unheard: Male Caregivers, Solo Agers and Long-Distance Caregivers Share Their Journey". Listen and learn as older adults and caregivers share their experiences. Moderated by Bobby Meehan, AGE of Central Texas.

• Mike Barnes speak of their experiences as male caregivers to aging parents.
• Donna Bridges speaks to her experience as a solo aging adult, preparing for her own future needs.
• Linda Rosens speaks about her journey as a long-distance caregiver.

11:30am - 12:15pm: Lunch

12:15pm - 1:15pm: Keynote: "What are they thinking? Inside the mind of someone with Alzheimer's Disease" featuring Dr. Peter Rabins, author of 36 Hour Day.

1:15pm - 1:45pm: Q&A w/Dr.Rabins

1:45pm - 2:00pm: Closing Remarks

Keynote Speaker

Peter V. Rabins, MD, MPH is an emeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He was the founding director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and the first holder of the Richman Family Chair in Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders. His career focused on the psychiatric and behavioral symptoms of neurological diseases including the dementias, and on geriatric mood disorders and serious mental illness in the elderly. He has published more than 300 articles and book chapters and is an author or co-author of 8 books including The 36-Hour Day, Is It Alzheimer’s?, Practical Dementia Care, The Why of Things, and Getting Old without Getting Anxious.

Featured Speakers

Bill Witt has been helping folks with Retirement, Tax, Long Term Care and Estate planning for 20+ years. His experience includes building 30-year retirement plans, maximizing Social Security benefits, creating guaranteed income in retirement, pinpointing strategies to pay less tax, identifying cost effective Medicare health care, and preserving savings while using Medicaid and VA benefits to help pay for long term care. His philosophy is to proactively plan for life’s surprises, and the first step is getting educated on your options.

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For over 14 years, Elizabeth Kingsley has helped families document and communicate their final wishes, believing that planning for end-of-life celebrations is a loving gift to those we leave behind. As a Family Service Advisor with Dignity Memorial, she guides families through their options, creates personalized plans, and provides Complimentary Personal Planning guides. Additionally, as a Veteran Burial Benefits Specialist, she assists veterans and their spouses with applications for burial benefits. Elizabeth is also honored to serve Riverbend Church by offering resources for end-of-life planning

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Tracy J. Willi advises clients on estate planning, estate administration, probate litigation, and civil appeals. She has been licensed to practice law since 1992 and has extensive trial and appellate experience. She has been Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2001 and has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer each year since 2009. For the last ten years her practice has been focused on estate planning and probate matters. She has litigated matters involving guardianships, trusts, will contests, heirship disputes, and real estate divisions in probate. Her main goal in estate planning is to avoid future family disputes.

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Former award-winning sportscaster Mike Barnes, honored 17 times as "Best in Austin" and a Murrow Award winner, now channels his passion into helping adult children navigate caregiving for aging parents. After his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Mike became deeply involved in supporting his parents' transitions to Independent Living and Memory Care. This experience led Mike and his wife, Kim, to create Parenting Aging Parents, a Facebook group with over 20,000 members. Mike and Kim, who met at the University of Texas and have two adult children, Brandon and Taylor, hope to one day turn their love story into a Hallmark movie.

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Linda Rosens, originally from the Midwest and a former Boston resident, met her husband through their careers in the book business. In 1998, they moved to Austin, but after the sweltering summer of 2011, they relocated to Washington state for his volunteer work, living on a boat. However, Linda found the long, dreary winters unbearable and began wintering in a small studio condo in Austin. Her reflections on her mother's journey—retiring after a successful career, developing vascular dementia, and needing assistance with her living situation—led Linda to deeply consider the implications of a simplified lifestyle. She spent 10 months helping her mother transition into assisted living and managing her affairs. Now, Linda visits her mother yearly and has found support through AGE, which has shaped her current perspective.

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Host or Publisher AGE of Central Texas