By Mark Harvey

Many of you who have paid any attention to these columns at all for the last 700-plus weeks are painfully aware that I’ve been whining about the advent of the Baby Boomers onto the “long-term care” scene for most of them — and with a singular lack of results. Indeed, to date, we’ve made minimal progress toward planning for the biggest demographic hiccup since the inception of pestilence, so I guess I just need to let that go.

And maybe the fact that most of us Boomers outgrew and outlived the 1960s is why it has come up again: We’ve gotten older, some of us have gotten wiser and a few of us have even figured out that immortality is unlikely even on a good day. Whatever the reason, the question has come up again:, “What the heck is Information & Assistance, and why do I care?”

Fair question. Here’s what’s worth remembering: You can call any of the numbers I’ll give you below and ask just about anything that might relate to anyone 60 or better, or their families or their caregivers or folks who like them or folks who hope to be one someday.

The idea is to be able to tell you who to call or what website to try or what paperwork you’ll need to do whatever it is you want to do, or where you might find help with whatever it is you might need or want help with. It doesn’t matter how much money you do or don’t have; the fact is, money doesn’t always help if you don’t know how to use it to get what you want — and what most of us want (most of the time) is to be able to stay where we are, doing pretty much what we’re doing now, pretty much the same way we’re doing it. If that doesn’t make sense to you, ask anybody 60 or better, and they’ll explain it to you in short order.

But often, it isn’t about answering this or that question; it’s about listening to “the story.”

Most folks are pretty bright and pretty creative; if they knew whay they were looking for, they’d be halfway to getting it! But the world of “help” makes Alice’s Wonderland look like a walk in the park. So, what needs to happen is for folks to tell their “story” — however long, however brief, the true story — and then folks like us can offer some ideas of what might help.

Maybe it’s finding ways to stay out of a nursing home — like Medicaid or in-home help or home health.

Maybe it’s about understanding legal issues like durable powers of attorney or advance directives or guardianships — what do you do, and how do you do it?

Maybe it’s about trying to access or understand or navigate or survive health insurance — I don’t care how old you are!

Maybe you’re a caregive — someone who is taking care of someone who needs to be taken care of, whether they like it or not. Sound like something you’re doing? And you’re not sure if you can keep on doing it, without some help? Or if you’re even doing it right?

Or maybe you’re suddenly raising some other family member’s kids — now what?

Or maybe someone you care about is a nursing home or an assisted living facility or an adult family home — or is about to be — and you have some questions or worries?

Or you don’t know if you need a will?

Or you’re worried about your sister in Selma or your auntie in Anchorage?

Or the Medicare stuff you got in the mail doesn’t make any sense — again?

Or Mom is going to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow morning and you have no idea what to do, how to do it or what language the discharge planner is even speaking?

Or maybe you’re just trying to plan for the day that you might need some help, and you’d just as soon the people you love don’t have to come unglued in the middle of a crisis and try to invent The Wheel?

Sure, we have all kinds of impressive-sounding programs with intimidating acronyms, but do you really care? No, you don’t; at least, not right now. What you care about is knowing who you can call that can (and will!) help you figure out what “help” might look like, or how you’d even know it if you’d found it.

And this is all free. Yes, some services and agencies have costs or eligibility criteria or whatnot, but the human interaction is completely and utterly free.

So, here we all are, 700-plus weeks older — I’m going to start lying to you now? Not likely; besides I live here, too.

Some years ago, I was in the middle of a family crisis with a loved one. It was all too close, and I couldn’t think! So, I turned to these same people, some of whom I’d worked with for years, and here’s what I can tell you about what happened to me:

I wouldn’t have made it without them.

Now, here are those phone numbers I promised you:

For the Aberdeen area: 360-532-0520/800-801-0060.

For the Raymond area: 360-942-2177/888-571-6557

For the Long Beach area: 360-642-3634/888-571-6558

This won’t hurt. I promise.

Mark Harvey is the director of information and assistance for the Olympic Area Agency on Aging. He can be reached by email at harvemb@dshs.wa.gov; or through Facebook at Olympic Area Agency on Aging-Information & Assistance.